Perfect timing for a subject about KDE. I just switched after being a long time (unsatisfied) Gnome user and I have had some papercuts during the switch.
My background (try to be brief): I’m a long time Linux user and Linux Sys Admin. I started using Linux off and on in the early 2000s but became a daily user about 10 years ago and Sys Admin about 6 years ago. I used KDE for a little while around 2005ish because I thought Gnome was a horrid experience however KDE gradually got worse also. I switch to Cinnamon on Linux Mint for a while and in recent years became a full time Fedora user with Gnome as the DE. I chose Gnome even then only because I still wasn’t happy with other DEs. Truthfully, I’ve never really been satisfied with Gnome but out of all the DEs I found it the best to use for my daily workflow. I decided to switch to KDE full time now (I tried if for a short time a few months back and liked what I experienced) because I haven’t liked the route Gnome has been going with the blocking of the extensions I have enjoyed. Also, I have always thought it was annoying that you have to install Gnome Tweaks just so you can do some minor customization.
I say all that to say this. My recent switch to KDE has not be a good experience despite my, what I consider, advanced knowledge of Linux. Don’t get me wrong, I plan to stick with it but I don’t see new users having a better experience.
First of all, just installing from a Live ISO what horrid. As many times as I have installed Fedora (with Gnome) from a Live ISO on my desktop I have never had an issue. The Live session kept freezing before I even had the chance to double-click on the install icon. I eventually figured out I needed to boot into Troubleshooting and select a lower resolution due to having an NVIDIA graphics card (GeForce GTX 970). Once Installed in low resolution I installed the NVIDIA drivers from rpmfusion and all was well with my video.
Second, I have an external USB drive connected that I use for backups. It wasn’t until days later (and after updates and reboots) that I discovered that the drive does not automount. This is a horrible default. This was something I did not experience in Gnome. After posting on Fedora’s forum did I find out that you have to go into KDE Settings>Removable Storage>Removable Devices to make changes in order for it to automount. Again, this should be enabled by default, in my opinion, especially for new users.
And finally, I have a huge issue with window behavior. I have two monitors connected and every time I open a window it always defaults to my secondary monitor, not my main monitor. Also, I have added Konsole to my startup applications so every time I boot into Fedora Konsole opens on my secondary monitor minimized to 145x2 in size, even though my Konsole profile is set to 210x55.
So, again, there are still so many issues with KDE that, unfortunately, it would not be a good experience to new users.
This may be a more direct question to Mr. Tunnell: Is there no way to get in contact with the KDE team to mention these gripes to so that we could potentially contribute to making KDE a much better DE?