We ought to change from KDE to GNOME for SOHO IMO.. Looks a lot better
I actually prefer KDE, both in looks, functionality and technical design.
Unfortunately, Miguel de Icaza thought it would be a neat idea to replicate one of the biggest mistakes in software in GNOME: the registry.
A registry represents a single point of failure for GNOME (or any other software for that matter). Kill just GConf or even mess up its keys and you are screwed, you end up with a dead GNOME desktop. All the apps may be functional, but if GConf isn't there or doesn't hand out configuration info as it should, they won't work correctly.
Storing all the vital configuration settings for an entire desktop environment and other apps in one single place is just not a good idea.
JohnB316 even called my attention to a registry cleaner for GNOME:
http://www.linuxinsight.com/how-to-cleanup-your-gnome-registry.htmlAnd I thought I would be free from the need for registry "decrappifiers" after leaving Windows behind.

I packaged GNOME because I believe in choice, and I'm glad to see that there are lots of folks happy with it, but IMHO, KDE should continue to be the default for SOHO.