Xfce vs. LXDE vs. Gnome(2,3) vs. KDE4 vs. Unity Summary

Here's a quick summary of my personal ratings for LXDE, Ubuntu Unity, Gnome 2, Gnome 3, KDE4, and Xfce.

Unity

Gnome 3

KDE4

Xfce

Gnome 2

LXDE

What is the "WOW Factor?"  Well, the true litmus test is showing off desktop (without customizations) to a new Linux user or a user accustomed to a Mac OSX or Windows OS.  Surprisingly, KDE4, Unity, and Gnome 2 register the most "oohs" and "aahs" from my acquaintances.  LXDE, XFCE, and Gnome 3 get shrugs and blank stares.

I wasn't able to include Enlightenment and Openbox to the list because I haven't used them extensively enough.  Gnome 2 and KDE4 have worked well the longest for my production use though I've been using LXDE extensively the last couple of years via Knoppix LiveUSB.

Currently, my favorite desktop environment is LXDE though I lean towards KDE4 and Gnome 2 on production machines.  Given the chance, I would love to have Unity on a desktop system.