> If TDE were to close down, which desktop would you use instead?
> You would be allowed to abandon Linux entirely in this scenario.

A very depressing thought. "Oldstable" would be an option to keep a 
decent desktop.

Some downsides I seen in others;

Alien style
Ugly in appearance
Limited user-configurability (menus, panels...)
Limited file manager functionality (complex settings or other apps
required to do what konq does natively e.g. sftp)
Dependence on gnome/kde4 applications (plus their baggage) to make up
for what is missing
Unwanted bells and whistles in your face
Bloat, excess cpu and ram usage (requires new and expensive hardware)

The gap between minimalist and bloat is too wide. XFCE seems the best of
the mainstream and is used here also but for overall functionality
against resource usage, TDE wins and is main desktop

Bugs? they all have them.

David