I never thought KDE was any more complicated than Gnome, I think they're around the same, if not KDE being easier (for me, anyways).

As for the resolution thing, you'll probably need to edit xorg.conf (found in /etc/X11), find a part that looks like this:

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection

and change it to whatever you need (as long as your graphics card/monitor support it)

Depth = color debth (8/16/24 bit)
Modes = I'm sure you can figure that out


I'm just guessing here, and could be wrong. So I'd backup this file before listening to me.


EDIT: If you're using XFree86 instead of Xorg, the file will be /etc/X11/XFree86config