GNOME vs. KDE Apps: Which Are Best For You? :- 2

In many ways, KDE's Dolphin and GNOME's Nautilus are similar in structure, with a directory tree on the left, and a pane for displaying the contents of the current folder beside it. Both, too, have the zooms and icon and details view that you would expect in a file manager, to which Nautilus adds the ability to add an additional emblem as a sort of tag (a feature I have yet to find a use for). Both, too, support tabs and additional panes.
However, Dolphin adds a pane on the right that gives detailed information about the currently selected file. This system is much handier than Nautilus' zoom feature, which gradually displays more information as you zoom in. You can choose in the preferences what files are displayed in this pane, in case the feature uses more memory than your machine can easily handle.

GNOME vs. KDE Apps: Which Are Best For You? -1

A desktop is more than just panels and widgets. It's also an ecosystem of applications specially written to use its resources and to fit its concepts of usability. That means that when you weigh GNOME against KDE, you need to consider their applications as much as the desktops themselves.
Not all software categories vary with the desktop, of course. The time is long gone when KOffice and the only partly realized GNOMEOffice vyed with each other for users -- although KOffice is becoming increasingly mature, and GNOMEOffice's AbiWord, and Gnumeric are all going concerns, most people just use LibreOffice.
Similarly, while some KDE users still favor Konqueror, and GNOME ships withEpiphany, neither web browser is widely used compared to Firefox and Chrome.

GNOME vs. KDE Apps: Which Are Best For You? :- 3

Movie Players: Totem vs. Kaffeine

Considering the simplicity of the interface, Kaffeine could almost be a GNOME app. It opens on buttons for five basic functions -- playing a file, an audio CD, a video CD or DVD, and Digital TV, and a simplified version of the menus on the left side of the window. Things get more detailed when you actually select a function, but, on the whole, the interface is highly usable throughout.
Yet somehow, GNOME's Totem manages to be even simpler, providing basic playback features and an optional sidebar that displays details about the current selection. Totem's only real drawback is a screensaver that runs when audio files are playing, but that can be turned off in the preferences.