quoting ObsequiousNewt:

Why, then, if I may ask?

It's hard to tell outside of actually using each of the distro/DE combinations which is the lesser evil for yourself; and reinstalling being the pain in the ass it is, sometimes we end up sticking with something we dislike (in my case Ubuntu's refusing to allow distro upgrades while any non-Canonical-approved repos are in use, plus several arcane UI/system glitches which make certain programs I run excruciating to use normally) for a time.