Survey: what is the best graphical environment for Linux for you?

Best Graphic Desktop Survey

We return to talk about a topic that many like and others hate: the graphical environments that are available for Linux. Here we are not going to go into whether it is good for the options or bad for the "fragmentation", but on the different desktops and which is the best. It is clear that this is somewhat subjective, so we are going to do a survey to find out what the community, or more specifically LxA readers, thinks about what is the best graphical environment.

Desks there are many and there are more and more, being one of the last to enter the scene cute fish (CDE) which was announced about a month ago. Being a young desktop / environment, that will be one that we will not include in the survey, and I think it would also be a good idea not to include others like UKUI as it is something for the Chinese public. For those who prefer desktops like this, comments and the "other" option will always be available.

In search of the best graphic environment according to the community

GNOME

GNOME is one of the most used desktops in Linux. One of the reasons is that it is available as an official flavor in many projects, such as Ubuntu and Fedora, where it is the main flavor, or Manjaro. Starting with GNOME 3, everything started to be more intuitive and easy to use, so it can be a good option for less expert users. The applications in the project are also very easy to use, and that can be bad for the most demanding users, not because they are easy, but because they are simple and without many options. In the video above you can see how the GNOME 40 gestures work in Manjaro (Unstable when the video was made).

KDE / Plasma

KDE / Plasma is one of the desktops of choice for demanding users. It has a more Windows-like interface, with the bottom panel, the system tray on the right, and the applications menu on the left, but stands out for how productive it is and the options and features it offers. In addition, in the move to Plasma 5 many bugs were corrected for which many of us fled from the KDE environment and it is so light that even systems like Ubuntu Studio have switched to it. In the video is Plasma 5.16, but you can take a look at the surroundings.

MATE

mate-desktop1.24

MATE was born by and for users who were unhappy with GNOME 3 or UnitySince Ubuntu changed about ten years ago to the environment that, they said, would be used on both desktop and mobile computers. It is nothing more than the GNOME 2 that Ubuntu used in its beginnings, but updated to work with new technologies, new options and applications. It is lighter than GNOME 3+, but its image looks like it was from the past decade. Still, it has many fans for how well it moves and how customizable it is.

XFCE

xfce

XFCE is the default edition of Manjaro, and if it is, it is because they believe it offers a lightweight and customizable experience. Their image is not as attractive as GNOME, for example, but that's because they focus more on making it work well than getting it through the eyes. It is used by many who are looking for a lightweight operating system, although many complain that over time it is becoming somewhat heavier.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is another of the desktops that was born and gained strength after the move from Ubuntu to Unity. It is developed by the project Linux Mint, and it has a lower panel and Windows-like application menu similar to KDE's, but in this case it looks more like Microsoft's system because by default it has icons on the desktop like the one for the personal folder.

Budgie

Budgie

Budgie use some GNOME components like GTK, but it has a slightly more careful design and some highlights such as the lateral control center from where we see the Widgets and notifications, among other things. When it arrived it was like a breath of fresh air, and even today it is still an option for those who want something more beautiful. Also, it seems a bit lighter than GNOME.

LXQt / LXDE

LXQt 0.14.0

If you are looking for a light graphical environment, between them must be LXQt or LXDE. They are developed by the same team and they do so with the aim of offering a lightweight experience that consumes few resources. In fact, there are not few who say that they have resurrected a team with an environment like these, but it is not as customizable as XFCE and much less as others like Plasma.

Deepin (DDE)

Deepin Desktop Environment or DDE is one of the desktops that the community is liking the most today, at least its image. It is developed by the team behind Deepin Linux, and it has a very "maquera" image, with menus with transparency and a very nice design. The desktop would be completed by many of its applications, such as one of screenshots that is installed by default and works very well. Those of us who have tried it have noticed that it feels a bit heavy, but we will have to see how it works in the future.

i3 / Sway

Sway

Some define it as "the hacker system", although in reality we are talking about two window managers. The desktop itself, or as we know it, does not exist; When we open an application, it appears full screen, and each program we open will cause the screen to split once more. You can switch between the equivalent of virtual desktops with keyboard shortcuts. In fact, we could use the whole system without a mouse, for which we have to learn. i3 is currently the best supported version and works in X11, while Sway is the evolution that does it in Wayland. Both are light because they do not have a graphical environment to use.

Pantheon

elementary OS

Pantheon is the graphical environment that elementary OS uses, one that relies heavily on the Apple interface. It has its own way of doing things, so it can be difficult to do some tasks if we are used to another graphical environment, but many users like it. It is lighter than other desktops, so much so that I was doing fine on a 10.1 ″ netbook, but about 10 years ago now.

Unity

Ubuntu Unity

Personally, if I add Unity to this list it is because the community seems to like it more than I thought. It began its Canonical development and it was reason for many of us to look for alternatives, but today it is coming back to life from the hand of Ubuntu Unity Remix. It has an image similar to GNOME used by current Ubuntu, but with different icons and application box, among other things. I have to confess that I have not tried it recently, but I think it is heavier than average and it takes a non-discreet team to move it with guarantees, although I know that at least in the unofficial Ubuntu flavor they are working to make it move with greater ease.

Enlightenment

Illumination 0.23

Enlightenment it is not like other desks. It is another advantage manager like i3 or Sway, but in which they can be resized and it has a dock. You can also do just about anything with the keyboard and it's also very light, which is why it's a interesting option for discreet teams.

What is your preferred graphic environment? (Survey closed)

Pastel

To avoid "trolling" in the form of dozens of votes by the same user, it is likely that you will need to identify yourself with a Google account to be able to answer the survey.

Although there are many options that I like, it is clear to me, and anyone who has read me a little around here will know what I voted for, but let's see what our readers think. The diffusion is appreciated. What is the best graphic environment for you?


15 comments, leave yours

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  1.   Cristian said

    I've been using Kde for a long time and I love it, but now I've been using it with Fedora 34 and this version is giving me a lot of problems, with the audio (Pipewire) and video (Wayland). I do not know if it is Kde or Fedora as such, but I am very lazy to change the system or environment, because I already have it configured at 100 to program in C ++.

    Maybe later if I dare to switch back to Kubuntu.

    1.    nozo said

      Do you have an Nvidia graphics? If so, you will have to stay in Xorg if you use the proprietary driver, Nvidia is just beginning to support Wayland, and Wayland's support in KDE Plasma is also experimental, although it has improved a lot in the latest version that they already have. KDE Neon ones.

  2.   Shupacabra said

    KDE / Plasma

  3.   Seba said

    KDE Plasma is hyper-configurable and offers features that no other DE has. The only "but" is the uncertainty of QT evolution.

    GNOME hadn't even touched it with a stick since its version 3. GNOME 40 seems to solve quite a few things, I tried it only for Wayland [and it works] .. although I am still not convinced by the way it presents the desktop, a matter of taste and custom.

    Cinnamon is my choice for daily use, as it combines familiarity, simplicity and functionality without neglecting the aesthetic touch that makes you feel comfortable and at home. It does not have such a high consumption and the new version 5.0.4 brings many improvements. What is missing [and it is a matter of time] is that I migrate to Wayland, from what I read on github, Mutter could be used instead of Muffin, which would speed up the transition, I think that post Ubuntu 22.04 we will have some ideas.

  4.   Servando Hernandez said

    Good afternoon
    I have used deepin and ubuntu they are very good and if the integrated ones in computers with at least 4gb of ram are very efficient I think it would be advisable to 8gb of ram and it eliminates the riguides problems discussed in this document since memory is saturated if you load several programs and it becomes slow but with 4gb of ram you eliminate that problem

  5.   Jordi said

    I've been using Ubuntu DDE for a season and it's amazing. No other Linux has made me leave Windows for more than a month

  6.   Juanjo said

    A few days ago I deleted all presence of Windows from the laptop at work, I needed to create a mutant beast. I installed Debian with Cinnamon, and then I turned it into a Proxmox server, because I'm worth it, I need to make some demos and such. Well pal case, Cinnamon was not convincing me and after reading a couple of articles I thought, why not? It's been more than 15 years that I didn't get close to kde or accidentally, but Plasma… yes plasma, it fucked up more and stole my heart !! I can only say that every day I am happy with that change and I no longer think I will return to Cinnamon and even to Mate.
    Regards!

  7.   Fernando said

    None is better than Windows 10

    1.    nozo said

      Windows 10 has serious inconsistency problems that are not consistent with the applications of the system itself, and that its developers belong to a multimillion-dollar technology giant.
      Not to mention that "better or worse" is quite subjective.

  8.   Radames said

    The best environment for me is JWM, it is clear to me. Customizable as the solo, light, fast and efficient. I love it because you only need to edit a single xml file, add shortcuts, add sounds, icons if you want, that groups windows of a single application in a single tab of the taskbar and you can give it the appearance you want without having to create png images , svg or xml. And if you don't want to complicate your life because you don't understand xml, then you switch to Puppy Linux and you have very useful graphical applications to modify it and leave it totally to your liking. An option to consider if you are looking for something simple and that works well.

  9.   Sete said

    Why do you need a Google account to vote?
    No choice?

  10.   Gregory ros said

    My favorite by far is Cinnamon. For a couple of months I have been testing Gnome and now KDE, the first one I do not swallow, look that I have given it several opportunities, but no, KDE is giving me good results, I do not like it as much as Cinnamon, but it works very well, I only see that it has too many options or they are not very intuitive, for example to turn off the computer: Mouse in the left corner, scroll to the right, again to the left and again confirm to the right, by God, is it so difficult to reduce options or put them in the same way?. Another deficiency that I have found is when you put an application in the panel bar and then want to remove it, with how easy it is to right mouse button + remove from the panel, I saw them and I wanted them to learn how to remove it and less intuitive to all, turning to Google. On the other hand, Cinnamon simplifies to the maximum and does it without losing functionality.

  11.   Miguel Rodriguez said

    I like Enlightenment, the configuration is very customizable so that you can have a very attractive or very simple desktop according to the needs, it can consume little depending on that. The downsides are that there is little stability (as far as I have tested) in its transition to Wayland, on the other hand, the full package that has been designed for this environment is not even offered in AUR, partly because most of it was created by developers who, over time, stopped releasing updates regarding the very base of the environment (with some without updates for almost 10 years), then it has to be built with other tools that require x11 to work, although I do not know if this could seriously affect the Enlightenment performance. https://git.enlightenment.org/

  12.   Manuel White Montero said

    ?? 1st= LXDE: FAVORITE ?? DUE TO ITS SPEED STABILITY → IT DOESN'T CONSUME ANYTHING ON PC WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE IT FLY ⏰ & ON LOW-RESOURCE PCS IT IS 100% WELL, EVERYTHING MAXIMUM ALREADY COMES IN SPANISH IN GENERAL ⏳ &
    ?? 2nd= KDE: ?☑️? BECAUSE OF ITS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, IT CONSUMES A LOT OF RESOURCES, DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GOOD VIDEO CARD? CPU + RAM → YOU HAVE TO DOWNLOAD THE SPANISH LANGUAGE REQUIRES SOME MORE KNOWLEDGE..
    ?? 3rd = Mate: FOR ITS SPEED STABILITY
    ?? 4th = Cinamon: I like it, it is modified but unstable
    ?? 5th = GNONE : I don't like it, I couldn't modify much
    ?? EYE IT IS ONLY MY OPINION OF YEARS OF USE OF LINUX ENVIRONMENTS → «??? EVERYONE WILL HAVE THEIR OWN RESPECT ???»

  13.   Franciscosp said

    Mate without a doubt, is the living spirit of linux, KDE for young windowseros at heart. The pshhh lightweight environments for old rigs if anything. But like MATE none.