For many years now I have been a very happy KDE user when it came to a Linux desktop. Not that I have anything against Gnome, but KDE just felt right. So for a while now I have been looking forward to KDE4 as a big jump to even better functionality, ease of use etc. The KDE developers have been very open that KDE4 is still rough around the edges, but the best way to get the most users and widest use is to take away beta from the title and let it go. Now KDE 3.5 is serving me fine, but with the release of Kubuntu 8.04, this way the chance to give the new KDE a real go.
The first impressions were favourable, as it looks good. However, this initial enthusiasm soon wore off. The screen I was using is only 1280 * 1024, and KDE4 quickly began to feel cramped. There is some ability to modify menubar sizes etc, but there always seemed so much space taken on an empty screen.
The real problem was system stability. Dolphin was the main problem with regular and unpredictable crashes, but it was not alone. On a number of occasions my entire system even froze. This has never been my long term experience with a Linux box.
I have not tried any of the other KDE4 based Linux distributions, as the more I read, the more it is a general issue with KDE4.
So for now I have gone back to KDE 3.5. For all the work that the developers have done on KDE the visible results are not good. Plans are already announced for KDE4.1 with promises of improved stability and greater features, but at this time I am not waiting with such excitement.