Have just installed & updated openSUSE 11.0 with the gnome desktop.
Are there any advantages/disadvantages in using one over the other?
Preference, mostly. I have tried to like GNOME, but KDE is right for me. I like all the K* apps that come with it =) Kate is cool, Konsole, Konqueror, Kaffeine, Amarok.
Some prefer the simplicity of GNOME. Try them both out - you can have BOTH installed at the same time. To switch, just logout, and select your new desktop. Then enter username-password to log in again. Voila. Enjoy.
In terms of disk space usage KDE eats more compare to GNOME. If you prefer good looking interface use KDE but if you prefer simple graphical interface use GNOME.
It’s only a matter of feeling. I do prefere Kde for ‘historical’ reason. My first de was cde on the top of solaris so… But i think also that Kde is more or immediately configurable. Only my 2 cents!
After Logging Out, there I don’t find option to choose KDE … where is that? Or do I need to Login at run level = 3 (/root user)
You have to install it. So goto yast>package management and select models (i use italian version so could be a different translation). from there select desktop environments choose kde or kde4 (i suggest kde3 at the moment) and accept
I have KDE installed, but don’t see the option to choose it at boot time.
Be sure that the “kdebase3-session” or “kdebase4-session” package is installed (depend if you use KDE3 or KDE4… or both 
).
After that, you will be able to choose it in KDM menu.
Hovewer, I’dont know very well GDM, and can’t help you more if you use it.
At least in kdm (i also don’t use gdm) there at the left low side of the screen a drop down menu called session. from there you can choose wich desktop to launch
yeah. that’s it.
I personally use Gnome because I like how many of the applications can tie into the desktop.
It is all based on personal preference, though.
Basically: what ever works best for you, go for it!
If you want to install both and switch between the two, refer to this: OpenSUSE Wiki Multiple Desktop Environments page.
That should walk your through the process.
Hope all goes well for you.
Every time a person installs Gnome, God kills a kitten.
Other than that, it boils down to personal preference and whatever works best for you. Assuming you’re ambivalent to the plight of innocent felines, of course.
Seriously, just try both and see, then decide. They both have advantages/disadvantages, and it will ultimately depend on your preference and comfort level, regardless of what anyone else says.
Just my 2c…
Cheers,
KV
DISCLAIMER: No kittens are actually harmed during the installation of Gnome. Yet. 
Woo…that was close. That was about 4 or 5 kittens, there. 
:rolleyes: 
But in all seriousness, like Else_Where said, try them both out and see which you like better. If you install both through the link I posted above, you will be able to access Gnome applications through KDE, and vise-versa, so you can simply switch to the other if you prefer it and still have all your configuration information saved and applications can still be used. You can also try mixing and matching applications if you want: say you like Nautilus (the Gnome file browser) over Konquorer. You can use Nautilus in KDE if you like, rather than switching into Gnome to use it. The best part about the desktop environments is choice. Between KDE and Gnome, there is an alternative to basically every major Windows program, and there are usually KDE alternatives to Gnome applications, and Gnome alternatives to KDE applications. Basically, the best way to find which you like better and try it out for a test run.
Have fun! =)
Based on the screenshots seen on the opensuse & Fedora pages, I think I would prefer gnome over KDE.
What I meant in the first question is that in terms of functionality (not appearance/design); would anything be less in gnome than in KDE?
I personally like the functionality of Gnome.
It can be a little tricky at first because only the most important items and icons are shown, both on the main menu and the system tray. But, once you customize it to suit your needs, it can be really fun to work with and functional at the same time. I think one of the best parts is the Gnome clock and calendar. If you open Evolution and add a task, a note, etc., it will appear above the calendar when you expand the clock in the bottom-right. You can also see days when an event is occurring (after being added in Evolution) because the day will appear in bold and when you click on the bold day, the event title will appear above the calendar. You can also add locations to the clock and you can see the weather and time for that location, as well as see the location on a world map (it also shows which locations in the world are in shadow, which really isn’t THAT important, but you can see how close sunset is to a location on the earth).
Hope it works out for you.
I used to use KDE in RedHat 7.0, but after version 7.2 or so it started to get buggy (aka a lot of segfaults) so I switched to gnome. I think Gnome actually looks better than KDE but that’s just personal taste. I’ve tried KDE a few times since, but I’ve always gone back to Gnome. It seems to be more stable and reliable. KDE has some really cool features though so I may give it another shot.