I have been a user of KDE since 2.0 running it on Solaris. Every release got better, giving user more tools, better control and an easier experience. When Gnome was dumbing down their interface, KDE stuck to the idea that users wanted control and I was one of those users.
Now we have 4.x. Major features are gone/not implemented, control is lost/not implemented and the tools are so different to the point that they can hardly be called the same app. (Konsole for one).
Innovation is important and it's the one thing that Desktop OSS is known for, but the stigma of making software that isn't really usable or having a development cycle that isn't reliable is well deserved. KDE is pulling a "Vista" with 4.X, but buggier and an even bigger difference between versions. Hell, it an entire philosophical shift.
I guess I don't share it. It's too bad, because I don't honestly expect KDE to survive it either.