Debian User Forums

http://www.linux.com/print.pl?sid=07/05/23/151253

"If you use a traditional desktop like GNOME or KDE, a keyboard-controlled desktop with a minimum of utilities may seem like stepping back 10 or 15 years in the history of interface design. Why bother, when traditional desktops are easy to use and RAM and disk space are so cheap nowadays?


Admittedly, minimalist desktops are not for everyone, especially since learning to navigate them takes time. However, if you try a minimalist desktop long enough to become comfortable with it, you may start to question the design assumptions behind its mainstream rivals. You might even come to value the minimalist approach for its own sake."

You can also run a minimalistic KDE along with a more advanced window manager instead of kwin. A desktop environment is actually less about movement or keyboard usage, and more about how programs interact with each other. Simple example being: kwallet storing all passwords for most, if not all, programs instead of every program having its own wallet or none at all. Movement, keyboard, mouse and window management is more the domain of the window manager.