this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
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I'm not sure I follow your gripe about multi monitor handling. You can add completely independently customized toolbars and set up the task manager to show icons for windows just on that screen or on all screens.
I daily drove gnome for a few months, but it was back in like 2014. What features make it better for multi monitor setups?
Gnome has changed since 2014. Just for your information.
Lol I figured. I took it for a brief spin again about a year ago, but not long enough to form a super informed opinion about it. I was looking to discuss with the other guy, which is what happened. I appreciate your update.
Seriously speaking, while Linux has tremendous issues with user interfaces and experiences about them, I don’t believe Gnome is the worst here. In my opinion it’s rather the opposite. I don’t like KDE for its too much of everything, but otherwise it’s pretty good. And I can see myself using it. I guess to enjoy Gnome you have to use it at least long enough to actually get it. I can believe it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But come on, most times I’m terrified by what these folks actually like. I use sway wm, but some kind of Xfce / Cinnamon and alike are just in some ‘Windows 3.1 nostalgia’ department in my book.
Tell me why someone should migrate to a DE with steep learning curve when this person is already pretty productive with a "Windows 3.1 nostalgia" DE.
I suppose so, but xfce and cinnamon do excel in use cases where the graphical polish of gnome and kde are either unnecessary or are too resource intensive. For old devices or servers where you want a desktop, they both work really effectively while using pretty much the bare minimum.
Like most things involving Linux, it's more about options and flexibility than making a desktop that works in all use cases. There are actually quite a few things I like about gnome, and I wouldn't mind using it, I just like being given a million options to tinker with lol.
That is my gripe haha. I don't want independent bars, I have five monitors and every little change has to be done four more times and it's infuriating lol. I want to be able to sync them like I can with dash to panel on gnome, but KDE handles it in such an odd way that it's even hard to script cloning the task bar changes to other monitors.
The way gnome is built around extensions makes it very likely that if you have a pain point, someone smart enough to make an extension to fix it probably did too. I was able to make a very comfortable experience with it.
I also really miss ArcMenu :( I tried so many KDE menu themes and they are just so janky
this right here is what drives me crazy about Kde. I prefer it over everything else, but the lack of a simple toggle button to make it so the same configuration goes on every monitor makes no sense to me, it /shouldn't/ even be that difficult to implement as well, the existing framework already exists it's just per monitor.
Once upon a time you could symlink the config to each other but idk if that still is feasible
Ohhhh okay, I suppose that's fair enough lol. I hate having the same taskbars on every screen, so it makes sense that this behavior wouldn't have really been noticed. I'm really surprised that there isn't a way to mirror taskbar setups, til.
Yeah im originally a windows boy lol. I grew up with it, and now I just cannot stand not being able to see everything on all monitors. It's one of the major reasons I haven't been able to get used to virtual workspaces / virtual desktops. Something about a window being hidden off into the void until I switch over to it just doesn't work for me
Yeah, that totally makes sense. I also was a windows boy, but I got annoyed by having every single app showing on every window all the time, since i sometimes have multiple of the same application open across different screens. I also really like having my main screen be the only one with a system tray, clock, and launcher, with the other taskbars purely being devoted to that screen's tasks.
It's always so interesting to see the different ways that people like to work.
My way of doing things is probably built on top of having a not very great memory and focus issues, so its actually difficult for me to operate without visual knowledge of an app being open still. That is also one reason it took me so long to make the switch to linux in the first place, GUIs are just so much easier than memorizing commands for me. More of a pattern learner than memorizing words or commands.
Yeah, that's totally fair. Maybe I should mess with gnome again and see what customizations are available now, that's always been the biggest draw to kde for me. And the desktop widgets are fun.