KDE vs. Gnome (Questions, not a Troll)

[Ed Sutherland]

I'm feeling a bit compu-schizoid; I like KDE's way of doing some things, 
but I like Gnome ability to just get the job done. After that brief 
psycho-profile, I have a few questions:

1. Why does playing audio CDs work perfectly 'out of the box' with Gnome 
and not KDE? I could stand on my head and spit jelly beans, but KDE 
still refuses to play simple CDs. Anyone know of a straight-forward 
steb-by-step guide to solving the most common KDE audio problems?

2. Creating a desktop icon for my home directory in KDE is a rather 
straightforward process; in Gnome it is nowhere near as clear. I want a 
desktop icon so that I can drag files from the desktop to my home 
directory. What are the steps?

Thanks.

Ed