Preferences are preferences, but mine would be Cinnamon DE.

Simple, fast, lots of functionality. Reminds me of all the best parts of Windows XP and the focus is on tasks/programs and not full-screen apps like modern Gnome.

And almost as lightweight as FVWM (not quite, but closer than most mainstream DEs).

> KDE Plasma is miles ahead of Windows/OSX.

For some, I'm sure this true but it's never quite worked for me. It's opinionated, which is fine but that means it isn't going to work for everybody.

KDE is anything but opinionated. You can pretty much change anything you want in it.

Pretty sure you're talking about something else. KDE is famous for being the most configurable desktop within at least 4.24 light years, probably much more.

It’s configurable yes, but it has plenty of quirks and bits of design that can’t be changed without getting one’s hands dirty and forking. Those are what people will likely find disagreeable, more than anything that can be changed.

If KDE is opinionated then what Windows and MacOS are?

They’re opinionated too, though I’d say Windows to the least degree with its “anything goes” attitude it’s had since the mid-late 90s.

I don't know if we're using the same KDE, but KDE has always been about options.

Historically configurability of major OSes/DEs has almost always been:

1. KDE

2. Gnome 2

3. Windows

4. Gnome >2

5. MacOS