Having read comparisons between KDE and Gnome, I'd like to include the Star Office 5.2 desktop for consideration. It is a remarkably complete UI. Also, you don't have a "K" or "GN" on every app. Just hide the panel and you have a very clean, professional desktop True, SO5.2 on KDE or Gnome is a "bloated pig" for RAM. But pare down your kernel and 128MB RAM seems plenty. (RAM has gotten very cheap in newer mobos.) As an MS Office 97 user, Star Office 5.2 is a huge improvement. There are some gotchyas but not bugs, just different methods used. For example, when you log out make sure to close SO first, or don't use "restore session" or you will likely hang. The browser in SO5.2 is very clean with a perfect bookmark idea. The word processor is quite different than MS Word. All other Office functions are much more intuitive and assemble like a web and frames. Mostly, I like the email in SO5.2. After subscribing to TCLUG, my MS Outlook 97 was unable to handle the sorting. Netscape mail was worse. Kmail was too crude. But SO5.2 has a great set of "rules" you can configure. These rules include the "move" command to easily set up separate folders. Now you guys get routed out of my face. I believe the Star Office 5.2 app makes the Linux OS practical for many more people. The wonders of Linux system configuration remain for the true, under the hood, computer mechanic. Now a very clean UI makes for a complete system. Modern software is truly spectacular. I've worked with PC's since the Altair 8800 in 1980(?). The world has greatly changed for the better thanks to so many talented people. The internet and now the (almost) free software movement will do more than any political entity to make the world a friendlier place. (Can Gov. Jesse do Linux ??) Rick Mora, MN.