Got plenty of RAM? Like, 2 GB?
Start up a fully equipped KDE 4.3 and a few applications such as kmail, krusader, klipper and zim. Throw in nepomuk and spamassassin as well as two browsers, such as opera and firefox. Add two virtual machines: one running Windows XP just for a quick plot in Origin, and the second running ArchLinux for serious business. You'll find how easy it is to occupy 2 GB of RAM. Listen to the sound of swap. 😞  Salvation! The world looks entirely different when viewed with 8 GB RAM. 😊
I run circles around you. 😄