Which kernel module should be loaded? Is there a definitive and up-to-date documentation for NetworkMgr anywhere? I'm trying to set it up on FreeBSD 11-STABLE, but I don't see any man pages.

What I usually install after getting FreeBSD desktop with Mate: rsync (with iconv enabled) bash vim firefox chromium thunderbird audacious mpv smplayer vlc handbrake avidemux amule pan transmission qbittorrent rawtherapee darktable gimp geeqie The most annoying problems for me: crashes of Caja and F...

I didn't run any scientific performance tests on ZFS, just my casual observations from running FreeBSD 10.x as a workstation. If I do some intensive tasks like processing video or raw photos, copying large sets of files around, etc - ZFS slows down with time.

For me ZFS is too much resource hungry and slow for a simple desktop system. Its killer features are more suited for servers, I think.

In my experience ZFS is fast right after reboot. But then the longer I work in the system the slower it gets. I suspect ZFS slows down when internal caches are filled up. I don't see this effect with UFS.

ZFS is powerful, but takes more resources, it is more suitable for larger servers. UFS is small and fast, excellent for desktops.

Yes, NVidia cards are usually well supported. I would further research for concrete card if you are going to buy.

FreeBSD CURRENT (version 11) has initial support for Intel graphics. But the max resolution is HD only, anything higher is not supported.

I use Mate on FreeBSD 10-STABLE. Fonts on qbittorent were too tiny for my eyes. I fixed that by installing qt4-qtconfig, running it and selecting font size. You can also select a nice QT theme.

In my experience (which is shared by some others) UFS SUJ may lead to instability. Disable journal, enable soft updates and you'll be fine.