Voice of the Masses: What’s your favourite desktop and why?
We’re recording a podcast this week and we thought we’d keep things simple with a straightforward question for this episode’s Voice of the Masses section.
As the title says, we’d like to know what your favourite desktop is and why – if you could list a couple of your favourite features, even better.
We know this type of question can be a little inflammatory, but we’re genuinely interested in why you prefer your current environment, whether that’s Enlightenment, LXDE, LXQt, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, Gnome 4, KDE 5 or Trinity.
Let us know your thoughts and we’ll meld them with our own in the next podcast!
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About The Author
Graham Morrison
A free software advocate and writer since the late 1990s, Graham is a lapsed KDE contributor and author of the Meeq MIDI step sequencer. @degville on Twitter.
I use Metacity with Gnome Panel on Ubuntu. I needed a non-compositing desktop because my low budget graphics card couldn’t keep up when gaming. I have a better card now but stuck with Metacity/Gnome Panel for the simplicity and the hierarchical menu.
I like XFCE because it’s just light enough to be as fast as possible without resorting to sub-WinXP levels of desktop functionality.
That said, I also like it to be nicely modded beyond its defaults by a distro maintainer. Mint XFCE is a perfect example.
Hey there,
I love myself some Cinnamon. Not just because the name summons memories of christmassy, winterly tastes, but also because it looks sufficiently boring, so I can get some work done while not being distracted by wobbly windows. Joking aside, I switched to it, when Gnome2 was abandoned in favor of the Gnome version that must not be named and never looked back because it just helps me get stuff done while not standing in my way.
Recently, though, I saw someone using KDE 5, which looked seriously sexy and I have been meaning to try it out. However I could not get it (Kubuntu) to run on my machine with an Nvidia card. I understand there might be some driver issues there, which I’ll hope will get resolved some day. Until then, I’m just blaming Graham 😉
Cheers Nick
Mate all the way, simple straight forward and easy
Gnome 3. Just gets out the way and lets me get on with things, as well as looking good.
The shortcuts and keys just work for my brain, and I really like for Super maps to Activities overview, and how I can drag and drop windows between monitors and Workspaces.
It’s not a desktop, but Fluxbox. It’s versatile, easy to configure, can be themed quite nicely, and has enough desktop-like things (taskbar, system tray) to meet my needs, without a bunch of extraneous superfluous lights flashing, bells clanging, and whistles whistling.
My next favorite is Enlightenment.
I like KDE programs but don’t need the sequined velvet suit that is the KDE environment. MATE is okay, and Gnome is just annoying.
i3wm – or is it is often called: i3 – the trouble is you wont have much luck doing a web search on just 2 characters (i3). If they had given it a longer name I think i2 would be much more popular because it would be easier to find on the web!
I am very attached to my aging EeePC netbook although even Mint mate is too heavy for it but with i3wn it races along and only starts to struggle a little with heavily scripted web pages in Firefox.
i3 makes the very best use of the limited 12 inch screen size which I am happy to put up with for the portability. This netbook used to run Windows XP but with Linux Mint and i3 it still serves me as well as it did 7 years ago!
I use SUSE mostly and up to 13.2 I was happy with KDE (KDE4). Now with Leap 42 and Plasma 5 I’m not so sure. Plasma 5 has memory leaks and crashes which don’t seem to be getting fixed and the interface is too glossy and feels less practical. I don’t like Gnome but do use XFCE for lightweight systems. As for SUSE Leap 42 with KDE 5, for now I have decided that it is not suitable for my users.
MATE on top of Manjaro = a winning combo.
Cinnamon – I loved gnome 3 until it crashed on me, went through trying and discarding many other desktops and in the end I made cinnamon look and behave almost exactly like gnome 3 with the added benefit of stability and customization.
GNOME 3. It is easy to use and it has all the features I need. Anyway I’m going to try KDE in the future, too.
Cinnamon is on my main desktop, there’s nothing surprising about it, it just seems to work in the way I expect things to.
I rather like the look of Budgie on Solus, if they used Cinnamon’s Nemo file manager instead of the default Gnome one, it could usurp Cinnamon’s place as my preferred desktop… possibly.
Hmm, but just now I’m posting from ChromeOS, does it even have a name for it’s desktop environment? But I can’t say it’s particularly endearing.
I’ve always been a lover of Gnome, especially since 3.0
I use bspwm and I love it.
It’s a shame I’m too tired to write the glowing review it deserves. It’s a very minimalistic tiling window manager. Windows are manipulated via a program called bspc, that takes pretty intuitive and powerful commands. It ships with a separate program called sxhkd, which handles key bindings. You’ll mainly use it to bind key combinations to bspc calls. The sxhkdrc provides good defaults, and is easy and intuitive to modify.
bspwm stands for “binary space partitioning window manager”. It internally represents windows as the nodes of a full binary tree. This simplicitly makes it intuitive and powerful.
Maybe I wasn’t that tired after all.
KDE all the way. I can set up the desktop the way I want it, and nothing else even comes close.
I’ve been using Gnome for quite some time. As a Fedora user, its the default, and it just does what I need it to. That being said, I really enjoy using Enlightenment. I’ve used several versions all the way back to dr13. Ive always liked the ability to customize E and its focus on beauty in a workspace. Unfortunately, I’ve found it difficult to use daily as a workstation. I’m in the process of building e20 right now, to try it out.
The things I like least about gnome 3 are how the desktop is left so clean, an the overlay of gnome shell makes it easy to get at applications, and then get the heck out of my way.
I do dislike some of the changes the gnome developers have imposed on us users though. Like their desire to run everything full screen, i operate in a windowed environment, and gnome just loves to maximize my windows on me. Window placement in general is a little odd. Its probably because I’m using in in a different way than the developers envisioned.
At any rate, put in my vote for Gnome 3, and a close second to Enlightenment!
I use plasma 5. It is a bit buggy now, but some things like Bluetooth audio work better there. Plus it is easily customizable. I felt with Gnome that each customization was discouraged. I had to use extensions that did not keep up with Gnome versions. Eventually, I stopped when trying to change the window button placement which required a hack reminiscent of the infamous registry. Changing the button location broke client side decorations in some apps. Unity is nice, but feels old compared to other desktop environments. I have not tried Cinnamon, but I prefer qt to gtk. I am looking forward to Unity switching to use more qt. I think the proliferation of client side decorations on Gnome makes their apps less usable in other environments.
Gnome3. It’s unobtrusive, sturdy, a strong worker and has a awesome beard (er…perhaps not the last one…)
XFCE because it’s lightweight, functional, and configurable. Runs fast on my gaming rig and also on my clunky old laptop. But mostly I like it because it gets out of my way.
I used to suffer from distrohopping. I’ve tried it all, but now I’m settled with awesomeWM on an Ubuntu Mate fallback. Clutter makes me unfocused on my work, awesomeWM fixes that.
I had been a Gnome 2 user, but was very disappointed with Gnome 3. I switched to KDE 4 on openSUSE 13 and can’t believe the wealth of configuration options. I now have a desktop that I can completely configure to meet my needs, not my needs as determined by a desktop development group. I am looking forward to KDE 5 but am going to wait until it’s been out a while before upgrading.
I’m currently using [cwm](http://mdoc.su/o/cwm).
BTW I find Pantheon desktop an extremely easy to use and very well thought desktop environment, but it only works on elementaryOS.
Having tried all sorts of distroes, I find that I am turning back to XFCE again and again. Maybe because it feels like home – (My first experience with a working linux system was Ubuntu 8.04).
For a long time Xfce and i3 have been my go-tos depending on my mood and what I’m working on, but about 6 months ago I tried out MATE and have been hooked on it. I came to Linux after Gnome2 was pretty much out the door, but now I can see why people have strong feelings about the evolution of Gnome between 2 and 3. When I’m in the mood to tinker with my desktop i3 is my choice, but when I don’t want to think about my desktop, MATE has become my default.
(For other i3 users, check out sway [http://swaywm.org/], a drop-in replacement for i3 but for Wayland instead of X11.)
Awesome WM because it:
– is lightning fast,
– is rock stable: I don’t think it’s crashed in the last three years on two machines with constantly updated Arch Linux [1],
– does “tagging” of windows so you can trivially group them any way you want,
– has the most intuitive set of keyboard shortcuts ever (Windows-f to toggle fullscreen, Windows-[number] to show tag [number], Windows-left/right to show previous/next tag, Windows-r to run command, left mouse click on tag to show that tag, right mouse click to toggle tag, Window-left mouse button drag to move window, Window-right mouse button drag to resize window),
– doesn’t require 3D acceleration,
– does both tiling and floating layouts,
– is configured in one place [2],
– is surprisingly intuitive to configure, and
– is trivial to install [3].
To be fair, the cons include:
– a confusing first startup (just click the top-left menu, then awesome, then manual) and
– an unhelpful main website (Google and the Unix Stack Exchange are much more useful),
– some counter-intuitive keyboard shortcuts (Windows-j to swap monitors, Windows-Tab only swaps between the last two focused windows (override [4])).
[1] https://github.com/l0b0/tilde/blob/master/scripts/arch_linux_system_upgrade.sh
[2] https://github.com/l0b0/tilde/commits/master/.config/awesome/rc.lua
[3] https://github.com/l0b0/root/blob/master/modules/window_manager/manifests/init.pp
[4] https://github.com/l0b0/tilde/blob/9461f7d8a3230b05a4066c63464017cacd71a0fe/.config/awesome/rc.lua#L291-L297
the question was about Desktop environment, not about window manager.
Am I going to get boo’d out of the room if I say my favorite is the Haiku OS/BeOS desktop?
For Linux, I tend to like most of the “lightweight” DEs, but I’ve got a special place in my heart for Enlightenment, even though I’m not usually one for the bling.
Ahh the BeOS Tracker and Deskbar. I would use a DE that mimicked that UI, I loved BeOS!
Try https://www.haiku-os.org/ 🙂
My favorite is definitely Xfce. It’s friendly, customizable, and has so many little things that are ingenious, like the built in desktop launcher editor, the automated icon search, the smart and customizable panels and more.
The fact that it’s maintained by just a few people does show, but most of the things just work.
So it’s Mint Xfce for me (with cinnamon a close second. Not as good in customizability, but more polished, friendly and straight-forwards).
I just like MATE with Clearlooks 2 Squared Berries, Gnome Wise Icons along with the Mint Menu in the bottom left. Traditional, nice and simple and with a dash of colour. Sorry, I don’t like the dreary ‘Goth’ colour schemes used as default in many systems.
I hate clutter of any sort, but I’m rather ill-disciplined. Gnome 3 keeps me sane.
My favourite Desktop is Unity because it is not MATE. This has been bugging me for quite some time.
Like almost everyone else on the planet, I was unhappy when in 2011 Canonical declared Unity Ubuntu’s new default desktop. After years of using GNOME 2, I just thought that Unity felt a bit awkward. But I stuck with it, mainly for a perceived lack of alternatives and my wish to avoid PPAs if at all possible.
Fast-forward a few years and, thanks to the excellent Martin Wimpress, I hear of MATE Desktop Environment almost every other podcast I listen to. With the release of Ubuntu 15.10, MATE is finally elevated to official flavour status and I was sure to be making the switch away from Unity.
I ended up using MATE for about one day before going back to Unity. It was quite an uncomfortable thing to have to admit, but there was a problem:
After years of using Unity, I just thought that MATE felt a bit awkward…
I am a fan of Gnome 3. Especially the infite desktop thing. I mainly use this on my Netbook, for which it is perfect. Gets out of the way, gives me the most screen realestate.
My only negative is the expanding system tray at the bottom left. This may be good for those with lots of tray elements, but I would prefer the normal top rightght list of icons rather than the tray.
MATE on Arch, all inclusive, still lightweight. Once enjoyed the integrated desktop (file) search in Unity, now happy with recoll when needed. Curious about the “global menu” coming to Ubuntu MATE (under the name MUTINY?)!
GNOME 3. Works very well on my 8yrs old laptop, sturdy, and does not stand in the way of work. So many great kbd shortcuts by default – no need to faff about configuring.
XFCE – To me it seems to be the one that has the best balance between functionality and systems resources staying out of the way. It’s very customizable and very stable. It has a slow release which can be good or bad I guess, but you know what you’ll find and where you’ll find it.
I like the aesthetics of Gnome 3 and play with it sometimes, but can’t get used to it.
KDE 4 for its configurability.
Years ago I decided that the desktop was fundamentally broken. We may acquire information from left to right but how we manipulating our tools is based on “handedness”. Someone was thinking reading verses manipulating physical objects and most people are right handed.
My coffee cup is not on the left side of my desk because I am right handed, same with the mouse, pen, paper, phone whatever. When I’m working in the garage I place my tools on the right side of the bench. I find it much easier to mouse up the right side of the desktop rather than reach all the way left.
KDE lets me fix this to varying degrees. My panel is vertical right side. I also like the key launcher combinations.
Libreoffice gets kudos for the same reasons, toolbars are vertical down the right side.
I like KDE for its configurability. I’ve long thought that a WM that worked like Blender’s interface, where you can split windows however you want, would be fun to use.
MATE has finally dragged me away from Xfce. Although I find them both very similar – not too resource hungry nicely configurable, very stable – it was something *very* superficial that gave MATE the edge – I simply just prefer the Mate Control Centre to Xfce Appearance Settings, both for ease of use and how they look. Sorry Xfce (told you it was superficial!)
KDE (I’m using plasma 5!). Has to be. I actually found out about it from the last Linux voice podcast! And I heard ‘fully customisable?’, That’s my style! So I installed Kubuntu and was amazed at how much I could change! One of my favourite features (Apart from customisability!) is widgets, I love the comics widget I can check on the XKCD comics right from my desktop!
I like Unity. It seems to me so many people dumped Unity, and ubuntu along with it, because they didn’t like change. Along with this came an enormous amount of vitriol and hate for something that is what Linux is all about…more choice and a platform for innovation. Since early days, Unity has improved and those who stuck with it helped it get better
I want to love Gnome. I really do. I keep trying again and again. I find it so frustrating that I can’t customize it like KDE, or even simpler desktops, and I give up on it. For gosh sakes! Why won’t Gnome let me tweak it? It’s “Tweak Tool” does nothing. I really want to love it. So, I guess Gnome is my favorite, but since I can’t easily modify it, I don’t use it.
Unity, because Ubuntu just works out of the box nowadays, and I like boring. I’ve tweaked it to remove the 300 ms delay between workspace switching and a few other minor things, but it’s mostly vanilla Unity.
It depends. On my main laptop i use Unity, because it works well for me out of box and hardware acceleration is not a problem. I don’t want to spend time tweaking my main laptop and I want to simply get things done. However, on my secondary laptop, which has an old Nvidia Quadro, Unity is not the answer. Fortunately, we have a lot of great DE’s to choose from, so I run Mate on that one.
I like both Unity and Gnome 3. I originally liked Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and when that disappeared I just stuck to what it became. Eventually I added Gnome 3 as a second Ubuntu desktop. I have them set up similarly with the icon panel on the left, and the Numix Circle theme. I added several Gnome Shell extensions to make vanilla Gnome more functional. I alter Unity and Gnome just for variety. With my main apps easy to access on the left I find them both pretty functional. I have also tried Mate and I like it as well, but I have become used to the way Unity and Gnome 3 function and mainly stick with these. As a Mac convert, what I miss most in all of these desktops is the ability to quickly drill down through folders. The Folders extension in Gnome 3 is the closest I can find to this.
LXDE.
It’s faster than any other desktops (XFCE is heavier, and Awesome WM is a window manager, not a desktop: compare it with Openbox then if you want)
And do only what I want whitout fancy effects or complicated subroutines.
Xfce still is my preferred classic DE – easily customizable PANELS sums it all up. LXDE and MATE aren’t bad but are a little clumsy in this area. Never understood why people want to edit the default menu – ugh. BTW Xfce and its apps are slowly moving to the ever changing target that is the GTK3 ‘toolkit’.
On another fad, searching for apps seems so, er, smartphone like. UI convergence remains an unproven concept. Square, flat, monochrome icons are ugly and hard to decipher. Young hipster devs, Please grow up!
Only briefly after posting my original comment regarding this matter (where I praised Unity for it’s out of the box awesomeness) I did something, that I’ve planned to do for a while, actually. I tried KDE. KDE is actually the first DE I’ve used with Linux, because Mandriva was the first Linux distro I gave a shot in 2005. It was KDE 3.5 and I remember it being an almost magical experience. I used quite a lot of different DE’s back then, but KDE 3 was something that I thought of as the best choice.
I lost my interest with KDE briefly after KDE 4, because I thought it lacked a lot of functionality that I was used to have in KDE 3 and it just simply wasn’t as polished, especially in the beginning. I have been giving it a shot now and then, but I have grown into being more of a Unity/GNOME person.
But now I have installed KDE Plasma 5… and it’s awesome. It looks modern and it performs surprisingly well even on an older Lenovo X200. It can be endlessly configured, but you don’t have to do that if you pick a distro that does a decent job at configuring it for a good out of the box experience. I’m very impressed and a little bit surprised as well that I actually Liked it, because I don’t usually get sentimental about DE’s. By the way, I’m currently using OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, because I think that OpenSUSE has done a great job with KDE in the past.
When I am in need of graphical applications i use my Windows operating system on my dual boot laptop. When I am using Arch Linux for writing pure text, or exploring things (like the textinfo manual, c programming, MU*’s, irc etc) I don’t use a graphical interface. I have not yet found any that matches my idea of a beautiful, minimalist functional graphical system, and I figure I will make my own in some way, but this takes time so I don’t have any yet :).
I think there’s something I like about every desktop mentioned here – and that’s the beauty of Linux: we can all have whatever we want, however we want; personally, MATE has a very special place in my heart because it is just so light and customisable, but allows wobbly windows and my beloved desktop cube – but I dabble in KDE sometimes in the winter (comes in handy to have a warmer machine, nudge nudge ;D)
Mate desktop for a main workstation and i3wm for a netbook and laptop . mate is the improve code of gnome2,its fast, estable and rock solid. I3 is a great twm very fast ,low req resources and very funny to use.
I would say that my favorite is MATE.