Regarding what the defaults should be, I'll readily admit I'm old school. :) I have been using computers for 30 years.

Just some additional comments. As I wrote previously, other than the bugs, I offered only suggestions. Final decisions are not mine to make. :)

I can very much live with the default of Tree View and not showing hidden files. I find Icon View disorienting. All of the icons look the same to me. Pictures might be worth a thousand words, but in a file manager I'd rather have a thousand words. Maybe that is only because of the way I started using computers so long ago.

I don't think changing the default icon set will change any user's expectations of how the desktop should work. Most computer users today understand the desktop icon metaphor. But the icon style/theme can easily change the user's impression. As the old adage goes, only one chance to make a first impression. I don't think the old classic icon set makes a good impression.

I was not arguing against using virtual desktops. Only the default number. I use two and find that sufficient. I think any new Trinity user who is a power user will quickly change the number if he or she wants. My vote for two virtual desktops is that new users and the less technically inclined probably are never going to use more than two so why overwhelm them with four? With two icons in the panel they will learn easily enough whether they like that feature.

I think the shadows with icon text is hard to see for many people. I know the older I get the more I dislike such bling. I wear reading glasses or the text in a book is blurry to me. Not so 10 years ago. :) When I see gimmicks like shadowed text on the computer desktop I struggle to read the content. I suspect many people with poor vision do too. My greatest pet peeve with Web 2.0 is that web devs all use humongous TVs for monitors and they design the text for that size picture, which means the text is too small to read on most desktop monitors. I treat gimmicks like shadowed text the same way. Developers impress me the most when I remain productive, not when they try to show off their programming skills. :)

The bouncing cursor is popular? I just lowered my hope for humanity another couple of notches. :)

Interesting information about Name (Description) vs. Description (Name). No problem with either choice for my part. But okay, if we use Tree View in the file manager (and not hidden files), then continue treating the user like an adult and use Name (Description). That will help them learn the app names much quicker. And probably leads toward keeping everything sorted easier too.

KDE provides several options for customizing the classic menu. There are options to add special menu items, such as Most Recently Used items, Settings, and Favorites.

As a side comment I always have struggled with the penguin focus. I don't want to play favorites toward Torvalds or Stallman. Both were pivotal for where where we are today. I think both men should be respected equally. I believe favoring one over the other is disrespectful. I would prefer either using both the penguin and gnu graphics or using neither and using something neutral.