I know Gnome is the default on popular distros: Fedora, Ubuntu, Rhel, Pop OS (it’s Cosmic Desktop yes but it is still based on Gnome)…etc. But Gnome just doesnt work for me. I would pick XFCE - stable and no BS.

Before Manjaro and their cetificate shenanigan, I used to use their XFCE version. At the time, it was marketed as the “Flagship Manjaro version”. I went 4 years without any problems and I did tinker a lot, just couldnt get their XFCE to break.

After a tough Arch or Gentoo installs, I just want to put XFCE on and call it a day.

What about you guys?

  • Kory@lemmy.ml
    521·
    22 days ago

    That’s not too hard a question for me, I’ve been using the same DE for years: KDE

    • aksdb@lemmy.world
      13·
      22 days ago

      KDE is one of the main reasons for me to use Linux. I immensely like the performance, silence and battery lifetime of MacBooks. But if I have to work with anything but KDE, it’s not worth it for me. The only thing OSX does better than basically any other desktop out there, is the ability to drag whole virtual screen between monitors.

      • jamie_oliver@lemmy.world
        2·
        21 days ago

        I’m running XFCE (but you could do KDE) on my intel Mac, you can get best of both worlds. I heard silicon is more difficult with Linux tho.

    • hddsx@lemmy.ca
      2·
      21 days ago

      Has KDE improved since 2010-ish? I gave up KDE because gnome was just a better DE at the time. Gnome sucks now, but I found i3/sway. Haven’t given KDE a second chance yet

  • AugustWest@lemm.eeEnglish
    21·
    21 days ago

    KDE. Been upgrading the same environment for 5 years just keeps getting better.

    I started around maybe KDE 3?

    • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
      5·
      21 days ago

      Was on KDE 2, KDE 3 was absolutely incredible, ran it on Mac when it was supported on xquartz.

      4 was a mess, but got better, 5 & 6 are fine, but it’s overall far better than any other DE, it’s just so customizable, the only other thing that comes close is xmonad or something.

        • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
          2·
          18 days ago

          I mean, they added a ton of features, especially minor or niche ones, but a lot of amazing ones like KDEConnect too.

          But what makes KDE the best is that the features don’t get in the way of core functionality anymore, the basic DE is always safe and they generally layer stuff on such that it doesn’t break anything.

          So basically the opposite of most of modern software nowadays.

  • lengau@midwest.social
    15·
    21 days ago

    This isn’t even hard. KDE without a second thought.

    I regularly try other desktops, and I regularly come back to the only desktop with any sort of reasonable thought put into it.

  • oldfart@lemm.ee
    14·
    22 days ago

    XFCE, using it for over 10 years, not planning to change it unless the DE changes radically.

  • Lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    141·
    22 days ago

    Cinnamon. I’ve used so many distros and DEs I don’t even know where to begin. Cinnamon got me hooked, and it’s legitimately the most polished and “ready to run” DE I’ve ever used, yet still allowing for far more customization than Windows ever offered.

    • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
      2·
      21 days ago

      Cinnamon’s been working well for me; I’d choose that, and I don’t mind waiting till my laptop breaks to reassess what DE I want!

  • slembcke@lemmy.ml
    141·
    22 days ago

    Definitely Gnome here. Though I have a long list of notes, it mostly just works exactly like I expect with little friction or guessing. I donate $100/year to both Gnome and KDE since they are both good pieces of software, and I love that I get to chose mine. Further, I think KDE is the logical choice for something like the SteamDeck where it’s going to have a lot of gamers that expect computers to work like Windows. (even if I don’t like it, >_<)

    • toastal@lemmy.ml
      2·
      20 days ago

      I would say the same & I don’t even use it—but I would trust it being around the longest & is better than GNOME IMO.

  • nafzib@lemmy.world
    12·
    21 days ago

    KDE for sure. The modern versions look exactly like how I want a desktop environment to look out of the box, and they keep the full range of customizability that a desktop should, IMO, allow it’s users to have. Which is something Windows just kept slowly getting rid of over the years.

    I also prefer to have a taskbar that is ever present with a traditional start menu that’s cleanly organized by category rather than the current full screen pop up “activities” search thing gnome does nowadays.

  • floppybutton@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    11·
    21 days ago

    I keep coming back to KDE time and time again. It’s so easy to mess with, I can set it up exactly how I like it without much effort, and it always looks good because someone else did all the work making themes and widgets I use.

    That said, I love XFCE, I’m just trash with CSS so it takes me forever to get it how I like, and on my Surface I can’t get the scaling to work so everything is beyond tiny.

  • warmaster@lemmy.world
    121·
    22 days ago

    KDE Plasma.

    It has been great for gaming, adopting Wayland protocols at a faster rate than other DEs due in part thanks to Valve’s contributions.

    I freaking love GNOME & Adwaita, but I’ll switch back when I deem it better than Plasma.