I still like the look and feel of GNOME a lot so I spent a little time putting it together that way. I want a simple desktop with small elements to maximize real estate for windows. I also use the small taskbar on my work computer for the same reason. But with my work computer, I do show window titles because I usually have at least 5 workbooks open at once so it’s nice to see which is which when I need to switch between them.
I love KDE’s application launcher. It feels very Windows XP with the way it sorts things. It just makes complete sense.
Century Gothic may not be the most readable font in the world, but I think it has an old school charm to it.
I tried gnome for a bit. I really liked the workflow. But the over simplification of the interface just killed me.
I got tired of it. And took the things I like from gnome and implemented them in plasma. (Swipe for virtual desktops for example)
Yeah, I feel like 9/10 vanilla is best. If the developers of the DE are good it should work clean out of the box.