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Another one of this topics eh? On the PowerPC, I see no reason to run Linux. Mac OS X and fink bring you all the Unix applications you could possibly run. On the other hand, if you ran Linux on PowerPC, you lose out on a lot of goodies, like Airport Extreme support and 3D hardware acceleration because the drivers aren't available. There aren't as many (are there any?) commercial products that target Linux on the PowerPC, so you are stuck with just open source apps. Not a problem for some, but a major problem for me.
On the x86 side of things, Linux makes absolute sense. Nice solid OS, free, loads of apps, and it's starting to get commercial applications. I find Linux much better to use and Windows on a daily basis. Then again, I haven't been using Windows much for years, so the gripes I used to have may no longer be valid. *shrug* Oh, and as nixgeek says, Linux runs great on things that aren't speed demons.
As for desktop environments, I'm a GNOME user all the way. KDE makes my eyes bleed. I personally think it's a usability nightmare. Examine the control panel and I think you'll find that it is needlessly cluttered, has loads of options that no one apart from the most hard core geeks would want. IMHO, it's a geek friendly desktop environment, and not one for people who like polished interfaces. Of course, there are many who disagree but this is just my opinion.
GNOME in my eyes is a better desktop environment by far. The interface is very well done, and doesn't have the cluttered look that KDE has. Compare the application menu in GNOME and KDE. You'll see that the spacing between items in GNOME is wider, making you feel less cramped. Or in the control panel, see how GNOME only has a slider with words 'slower' and 'faster' on each end for you to set your keyboard repeat rate, while KDE has a slider and a text box (!!) telling you exactly what the repeat rate is (like anyone really needs to know that). Just a few examples of why I find GNOME better than KDE.
Nevertheless, try both and see which one suits you better. I did, and after 3 years of using KDE I switched to GNOME and haven't looked back since.
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