Mel,

Welcome to our humble Ubuntu Forums Help Desk nook. Personally I prefer to get my Ubuntu help through Ubuntu Forums or through the Ubuntu Colorado Local Community mailing list, a.k.a. CoLoCo. I have never had to actually ask a question on the Ubuntu Forums. Some else asked it and I only had to find the question and thereafter the answer. However, figuring out how someone framed their question can be really daunting. Another word for daunting in this case is tiring.

Your post actually meandered a bit. I think your real question is, "How do I set KDE to be my desktop?" I entered "change desktop KDE" in the Ubuntu Forums Search box and got this link on the second page. Is this link helpful?

I'd welcome you to CoLoCo, though were I you, I'd keep an electric prod nearby since many (most?) of CoLoCo's active members live in or around Boulder. Being in Nebraska I suspect an electric prod is easy to come by for you.

- Nelson