My evaluation of Kubuntu 22.10 is independent of @WetGeek 's review and is focused on the question of how well Kubuntu 22.10 will meet the needs of an "ordinary home desktop user", taking all four layers of the distro (Kernel layer, OS layer, DE layer, and App layer) into consideration.
OVERVIEW
Kununtu 22.10 is a six-month release of Kubuntu, based on Ubuntu 22.10. The distro will be supported through July of next year and then need to be replaced. The release notes suggest that Kubuntu 22.10 updates Kubuntu 22.04 LTS (e.g. updates the kernel from 5.15 to 5.19, Plasma from 5.24.4 to 5.25..5, QT from 5.15.3 to 5.15.6, and so on), but makes no major changes and adds no significant features.
Kubuntu is an official "flavor" of Ubuntu, which means that Kubuntu is required to conform to all Ubuntu standards and the Kubuntu team is contractually obligated to continue to support/maintain a Kubuntu release on the same basis as the corresponding Ubuntu release, providing some assurance of long-term stability.
My review of Kubuntu 22.10 is based on (1) a Live session, (2) installation and about an hour's use in a VM, (3) strong familiarity with a bare-metal installation of Kubuntu 22.04 LTS that I use daily, (4) review of 22.10 release notes and blog posts, (5) review of Distrowatch information, including reviews, and (6) review of the Kubuntu user forum looking for unexpected issues/problems.
Beyond the incredibly hinky wallpaper deployed by Kubuntu 22.10, I don't see a lot of user-visible differences between Kubuntu 22.04 LTS and Kubuntu 22.10.
INSTALLATION
Installation is standard Ubuntu, simple, orderly, intuitive, and automated. The installation process should create no problems for an ordinary desktop user, assuming that the user is installing Kubuntu in a single-boot, entire drive configration. I have not tried "install alongside" or "roll your own" alternative methods of installation. The installation software prompts the user to remove the installation media during the post-installation restart process, so a non-technical user should have no problems with that sometimes tricky aspect of Linux installation.
KERNEL
Kubuntu 22.10 uses the 5.19 kernel, albeit a Ubuntu-modified version of the kernel, as I understand it. The 5.19 kernel is a "short term" release, with support expiring relatively soon, but continuing long enough to allow a user to upgrade to the 23.04 release. Users have the option to drop back to the 5.15 LTS kernel if necessary.
OS LAYER
The OS layer is Ubuntu 22.10, a six-month release supported until July 2023.
Ubuntu is developed and maintained by Canonical, a large corporate player in the Linux market. Ubuntu is considered to be a well-developed, stable and well-supported OS layer, and in the years that I used Ubuntu (2006-2017) I found that to be the case. Ubuntu provides solid graphical maintenance tools, and an ordinary desktop user will probably be able to use the Ubuntu base OS for years without resorting to the command line.
Ubuntu users are supported by a large support environment (documents, forums, wikis and so on), which means that a user can normally find accurate answers relatively quickly.
DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT
The DE layer is KDE Plasma 2.25.5, a currently supported Plasma release, albeit not the most recent release. KDE Plasma is a desktop environment developed by KDE, a well-funded (Canonical, Google, SUSE, QTCorporation) and relatively large development team. KDE offers a relatively large collection of K-pops, KDE applications developed specifically for use with Plasma.
The Kubuntu implementation of KDE Plasma is more-or-less stock, deploying standard menus and themes (Breeze). Nothing kinky.
Kubuntu is an official Ubuntu "flavor". This differentiates Kubuntu from a half dozen or so other Ubuntu-based Plasma distros. Because Kubuntu is an official "flavor", Kubuntu does not (and cannot) deviate too far from Ubuntu norms, unlike Ubuntu-based by independently developed Plasma distros.
That can be a good thing, or bad, and we have seen examples of both. KDE Neon, which is based on Ubuntu but independent of Ubuntu, is a superb installation of KDE Plasma. Others, however, are both amateurish and so idiosyncratic as to be almost unfit for ordinary desktop use.
APPLICATIONS
Kubuntu comes with a standard and unremarkable set of default applications, all mainstream, similar to the applications included in Solus Plasma. A notable exception is "Menu Editor", which is a godsend for users interested in tweeking the Plasma menu, which is present in Solus Plasma but not present in Kubuntu.
Menu categories and app placement within the menu categories is (as far as I can tell) straight-up Plasma.
FLATPAK/SNAP SUPPORT
Kubuntu supports both Snap and Flatpak. Snap support is installed OTB. Flatpak support is not, but is easily added. As far as I am concerned, lack of native Flatpak support is a ding when considering Kubuntu as appropriate for ordinary desktop users, because I don't think that ordinary desktop users should have to hunt around and use the terminal to install Flatpak or anything else. The Discover software center has an app called "Gnome Software -- Flatpak Support" and that might install Flatpak, so take this comment with a grain of salt.
Snap is a Canonical product, and it is well known that the Ubuntu repository is rife with Snaps.
Kubuntu installs the default browser, Firefox, as a Snap. Firefox can be removed, of course, as I do, and the process is cleaner precisely because Firefox is installed as a Snap. Absent Firefox, Kubuntu is relatively clean in terms of Snaps, unlike Ubuntu itself. I think that this is due, in part, to the fact that Kubuntu installs K-pop apps rather than Gnome apps. The command snap list for Kubuntu shows only five installed Snaps -- bare, core20, gnome-3-38-2004, gtk-common-themes, and snapd -- after Firefox has been removed.
For the Snap-phobic, Ubuntu provides a method for removing Snap from Ubuntu (and, accordingly, Kubuntu) and insuring that no future Snaps will be installed from the repository.
Flatpak, once installed using the instructions on Flathub, seems to work flawlessly, based on my installation of Zoom.
Both Flatpak and Snap installations update automatically through the Discover software application, which is a plus in my book. I wish that Solus would do the same thing.
DEFAULT THEMES
Kubuntu uses the Breeze themes (Breeze, Breeze Dark, Breeze Twilight) and a "Kubuntu" theme, which seems muddled for a variety of reasons. Breeze Dark is my theme of choice, although it doesn't hold a candle to the Solus Plasma's "Solus Dark" theme. Breeze Dark is a standard, commonly used but gray-ish theme, workable but not anything to write home about. Because Breeze is so common, I suppose that it is a safe choice, but Breeze is so "meh" as to be noticeable.
SUPPORT AND /MAINTENANCE
User support for Kubuntu is bifercated. Ubuntu support is provided by Ubuntu, Kubuntu support is provided by Kubuntu. All Ubuntu "flavors" use the bifercated support model. I'm not sure how I feel about that from an ordinary desktop user support standpoint, but the bifercated support system means that users will have access to more focused and comprehensive support.
Kubuntu and Installed applications get security updates frequently (my experience with Kubuntu 22.04 LTS is that I get, on average, a dozen updates a week), but I suspect that the updates are security updates for the most part.
An exception that I've noticed is with browser updates. Both Firefox and Edge (and I assume other browsers) update frequently for security reasons, and the security updates bring along feature updates. Edge is always kept current -- when an update appears in Windows, it also installs in Kubuntu, more or less simultaneously.
BOTTOM LINE
Kubuntu is a solid, professional and someone unimaginative combination of Ubuntu and KDE Plasma. No quirks worthy of mention, a team player within the Ubuntu ecosystem.
In my opinion, Kubuntu 22.10 is an appropriate distro for use by an ordinary desktop user.
I use Kubuntu 22.04 LTS on a daily basis and would recommend Kubuntu 22.04 LTS to a friend coming to Linux from Windows 10. I'm not sure whether I would recommend Kubuntu 22.10.
I think that many/most users would be better served by adopting Kubuntu 22.04 LTS, automatically upgrading as point releases are issued over the next several years, because the LTS version will not need to be replaced in a few months. I doubt that six-month replacement cycles are consistent with ordinary desktop user expectations, however simple and straightforward reinstallation might be, but it is a trade-off.
LTS releases are designed to be replaced every two years, and that strikes me as more in line with the expectations of ordinary desktop users.
Two-year cycles, however, during which upgrades are limited to security (and limited features) updates, means that applications will not be current during much of the life cycle of the distro. I'm not sure how much difference that is likely to make to an ordinary user -- LibreOffice 7.3 is so similar to LibreOffice 7.4 that I don't think an ordinary desktop user would much care. I think that is true of most mainstream applications, including the K-pops.
