CDE may be old, but it is still a feature rich desktop environment for its age that isn't very demanding on resources. It supports multiple desktops, a dock, and a suite of common programs. After setup all of these features are ready out-of-the box. There's also that nostalgic vibe, if that appeals to you. * Some weaknesses of CDE compared to other desktop environments include lack of support and flexibility in common customization features and the lack of some full-screen application support. Some features found in more modern DEs require some additional configuration, workarounds, or additional software. * Compiling CDE isn't too difficult, but it's easy to miss prereqs and sometimes some post-install troubleshooting is needed. I recommend manually checking that each prereq is installed before attempting compiling and installing CDE. Therefore, I would generally recommend CDE to interested power users, unless if you're interested in a possible learning experience. Reading the wiki first will help avoid a lot of potential common issues however. In my experience installation gets smoother with every release. * Doing some tasks in CDE may be different than what most people expect if they are used to other desktop environments, but the help files and online resources help new users learn any differences that they can't figure out themselves. The wiki on this site is a good resource.