Gnome is so much better than what I remember in 2005. I've also grown up a little, and my internet connection is much faster. Yes, XFCE plays nicer on lighter hardware but I'm very happy with less sprawling dependencies and the polish in Gnome today. Plus Gnome is the one most likely to have HDR, VRR, and such sooner. I'm just not looking forward to next year with Apple Vision Pro. We're finally getting well-rounded desktop environments on Linux, now we have to edge into "spatial computer" desktop environments. That will take 20 years to catch up to.

I'm still convinced every desktop environment should be a physics simulator - 2D or 3D. If you want consistent animations, changes of state, etc. you don't hardcode these into your application. Your application should exist in a physics simulator. Your windows are objects with layers. You're looking at a composited view of them. In 2023 we have the hardware and the know-how to run physics simulators as your desktop environments.

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