I just found out that in Linux you can have different desktops, unlike Windows. Long before I had Linux I saw the term KDE all over the place and the really neat software that comes with it. Mint came with Compiz, which seems to cause the system to lag. The computer I have Linux on isn't a real high end system. I've been to the Compiz control panel and removed most of what I think causes it to lag but I wonder can I switch to KDE? I've been comparing desktops here so will I have to reinstall everything? And will it even be worthwile to do it? I've been reading a lot of reviews and comments about it and almost everything I see rates KDE as being very good.
I've been comparing here

I believe the "Main Edition" of Mint uses Gnome Desktop Environment. Compiz is just the bits that give you the cool 3D desktop effects.

You should be able to turn off all the desktop effects (including compiz) if your system drags on Open GL (hardware 3D) stuff. Compiz and desktop effects work in KDE too so you might have to turn it off there as well.

You can install KDE along with Gnome. Actually, you can have as many Desktop Environments as you want installed. Most distros allow you to select which DE to boot into from the login screen.

You can install KDE without reinstalling, no problem.

You can actually run KDE apps inside Gnome but it does load some extra libs into memory whenever you call for a KDE app while in Gnome.

As far as which is better, that's up for debate. I used KDE until they moved to Version 4. I found the first few versions of KDE 4 lacking. I do understand that it's much better now. I could never get used to the default menu navigation system in KDE 4. I much prefer the classic cascading windows navigation. That is one thing Microsoft got right. You can switch KDE over to the classic cascading windows navigation menus, which for me, is a must.

With the feedback I've been seeing about the new rewrite of the Gnome desktop, looks like lots of peeps will be jumping to KDE (or some other DE), including myself. Most people are hating on Gnome 3.

From what I understand, Mint has no plans to move to the gnome or unity shell. I've tried out gnome shell on fedora. I kind of liked it. But not enough to want to switch over completely. Anyway, after gnome kde is my next favorite. But if mint steers clear of the "shell" gnome should be comfortable for a little while longer.

It seems unless Gnome 2.x branches, there will be no choice but to move to something else.

Hopefully, a group of developers will extend the life of Gnome 2.x, at least until everything plays out in the desktop -vs- laptop -vs- touch pad OS war. I'm skeptical a "one DE fits all" interface will somehow work equally well on both a touch pad device and desktop PC. Trying to combine two interfaces into a single desktop environment seems to be a rather inefficient way to do things. Let's just have two separate interfaces, shall we? Right tool for the job and all.

I guess there's alway LXDE.

Ok, I didn't know i could switch between them. I'm installing KDE as i type. Thanks.

I saw 'KDE-Full' in the software manager and thought it was the whole thing. It was only all of the applications, the actually KDE desktop is a tarball and every time I try to work with those I spend 2 hours following links and end up with nothing to show for it. Installing from tarballs is my biggest problem right now. I've asked how in the Mint forums and the ubuntu forums and was more or less told it was a silly question because it was so vague it was like asking with to do with a zip file. Well if someone was new to windows and asked me what to do with a zip file I'd explain to them how to unzip it, then look for a file called setup.exe and run it. Apparently tarballs are much more complicated. I've tried installing Libreoffice, gimp 2.7.2, cinepaint, and now KDE from tarballs and in every case the instructions I found are different. I found in the case of cinepaint that it doesn't seem to work with ubuntu but in the other cases I might as well bang my head against my keyboard, there doesn't seem to be a standard or the instructions tell me to do something with a file that I don't have.
However, I disabled everything in compiz as you suggested and it did help the speed issue so thanks
with that. Installing tarballs is my nemesis for now, but I've never found anything about computers that I couldn't master in time so I'll keep reading and trying and growling and reading some more. One thing that is consistent is that the more I learn about Linux the more I like it.

Aw man. I used KDE for awhile but switched to Gnome. Sorry to hear about Gnome 3, I like its lean footprint and easy navigation.

I believe KDE-full is the full version of KDE. You should be able to select between Gnome & KDE from the login screen. If you currently bypass the login screen password, you'll have to re-enable it to be able to select which desktop you want to boot into..

Check this thread: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 1&p=400547


Well, .tar files are like .zip or .rar files, in the way they operate. It basically compresses multiple files and folders into a single file with a .tar extension.

You always want to install packages using your Linux distribution's package manager, be it Apt, RPM, PET or whatever package manager your disto uses. The reason you always need to use your distro's package manager is that the package manager knows the location where all the files for a specific application should be stored. The location of where the files need to be stored can vary depending on Linux distribution. There are also dependencies (other required files) that might have to be installed, dependencies that are not included in the package but may have to be pulled from your distro's file repositories. This is all handled automatically by your package manager.

When dealing with a .tar, .zip or .rar archives, none of the issues I mentioned above are addressed and you will have to manually copy the extracted files to the proper locations, ensure you have all the correct versions of dependencies installed, and ensure permissions are set correctly. This is why the instructions are different for most every .tar you see and those instructions will vary from distro to distro.

The rule of thumb in Linux is to avoid installing .tar binary archives and use your package manager instead. Rarely will you have to use a .tar to install. If you use a popular distro, you should be able to find the application already packaged for your distribution. If you absolutely must install from a .tar, you can, but you have to consider all of the issues I mentioned.

Occasionally, I have to compile an application because the package is not included in the package manager (i.e. Gimp Gap) or the package is outdated and I don't want to wait (I usually wait if I know it's coming). So, you want to pick a distribution that provides as many packages as possible that are installable using your package manager. My advice is to stick with popular distributions, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse, Debian or Mint and avoid using .tar archives to install. Using .tar to install should be an absolute last resort.

I am sure that the whole KDE or Gnome or XCFE Desktops are available from the software manager, so not only as tarball but also as deb

I used for a few trimes linux mint and as far i remember is just a customized version of ubuntu, so what works for ubuntu works for Mint too

So install another desktop is simple as in ubuntu, and for all ubuntu, (k)ubuntu, (x)ubuntu install additional desktop is as a FAQ, you will find detailed how to in the doc, or pinned on the forums

So if Mint forum are not helpful just search in Ubuntu forum and doc

About the sarcastic and/or snobbish replies you got on Linux forum remember that every idiot is able to reply with sarcastic remarks, at best combined with vague hints (as "check the documentation")

It is explain in simple words that require skills, and add useful links that require patience & effort (so i often skip this last part)...but any smartass is able to mask his ignorance with snobbish replies

Sorry if i don't add links i admit to be lazy but i may give good pointer :
check Ubuntu docs for "install KDE " or "Install Kubuntu" or search Kubuntu doc for "install Gnome"
or...well i am sure you get the idea

you will see the easier way, if i remember well (for a period i had 3 desktop to choose within at loading time) it is just doable with a batch Apt-get command, then you call the update manager and that will complete the work...quite painless

That was the most information i've ever gotten and the most useful. KDE-full is the full version and i now have I now have it working. Thanks.
I also understand installations and tarballs a lot better. It seems hat i need to spend a lot more time understanding the package manager and less time trying to fool with the tarballs directly. Thanks, PC, sadly there will always be stupid people around and I don't have much trouble dealing with hem if i have to. I spent 13 years in Yahoo chat with friends before it went to the dogs and that is a very mean environment. That's why I strongly support this forum, because it isn't that way.
Anyway, I'm sittign here looking at my other monitor with the nice pretty new KDE desktop, which i want to explore. Thanks, everybody for the help.

Yvw. Glad to hear you're up on KDE. KDE has lots of nice eye candy, especially with all the desktop effects (& compiz) enabled.

One other really nice thing about using a package manager is that you automatically get updates to the programs you've installed. In Windows, you get OS updates but not updates to the 100s or 1000s of other programs you've installed, from all over the web. In Linux, whenever a new version of a program is released, package maintainers will update the repository with the new version. The next time you check for updates, you get the new version.

In Windows, you never really know what you're installing with the .exe you just downloaded from xyz website. Installing from a Linux distribution's file repositories via a package manager, you have a high level of confidence that the package maintainers have checked and tested the package before pushing it out to you. All good Linux distros check out the packages before making them available to users.

Stick with the standard file repositories provided by your Linux distribution. Avoid installing packaged applications (and .tars) from sources that aren't approved by your Linux distro or from sources you aren't sure about. It's possible you could become infected with a rootkit or other malware by installing packages from sources not managed by your Linux distro. I always go ahead and add Adobe's file repository to my package manager so I get flash updates automatically. That's the only other file repository I've added to my package manager.