All linux desktop environments

Linux Desktop Environments

Linux is very different from other operating systems because of its openness and flexibility. Linux One of the most flexible part of the Linux is its graphical user environment or in the Linux desktop environment. Desktop environments provide user-friendly and generally shiny interfaces for the user. In this article, we will look at different types of desktop environments with different tastes.

Gnome Desktop

Gnome is the most used desktop environment. It is installed default by most of the Linux distributions. Gnome is complete desktop environments which have a lot of tools developed in this project. Also, other desktop environments also use Gnome’s tools and packages. Gnome provides little details and more ease of use. Gnome resource consumption is moderate according to other desktop environments.

Gnome Desktop

KDE – Plasma Desktop

KDE or with its new name Plasma is the king of the Linux desktop environments. KDE provides ultimate user experience with its shiny interfaces. KDE gives the user the ability to edit all details about it. In the old times, KDE resource consumption was high but currently it is affordable but the highest in the Linux desktop environments. I am currently using KDE with pleasure. We can call KDE as main desktop environment which has its tools.

KDE – Plasma Desktop

Cinnamon Desktop

The cinnamon desktop is started in 2011. It is a fork of Gnome Desktop. It has the same code base but through time it differentiated with Gnome. The cinnamon desktop is less resource exhaustion than Gnome. It is a project mainly supported by Linux distribution Linux Mint.

Mate Desktop

Mate Desktop is the continuation of Gnome 2 which is an older release of Gnome. Mate resource usage is lower than Gnome and Cinnamon. Mate provides standard Gnome 2 tools. Mate desktop can be used for low-end systems.

Mate Desktop

Unity Desktop

Unity Desktop environment is mainly developed by Canonical or Ubuntu. It is mainly aimed for usage in netbooks. Unity working mechanisms are similar to MacOS. Unity is not a lightweight desktop environment.

Xfce Desktop

Xfce or Xfce4 is strong alternative for desktops for low resource usage. Xfce provides tools for whole desktop environments but resource requirements are lower than another desktop environment. It has own tools developed for Xfce project like Xfce-terminal. Ubuntu has spin named Xubuntu which is tightly integrated with Xfce Desktop.

Xfce Desktop

LXQt Desktop

LXQt is a lightweight Qt desktop environment. Qt is a library specifically designed for graphics operations. LXQt uses similar code base with Lxde. It is proposed to replace Lxde Desktop in someday.

LXQt Desktop

Lxde Desktop

Lxde is another alternative for lightweight desktop environments. Lxde is fewer resource needs. Lxde provides a component-based design which means only some part of Lxde can be used and another part is committed. Lxde has an active community for development and support.

Lxde Desktop

Pantheon Desktop

Pantheon is the default desktop environment originally created for Elementary OS distribution. It is written by using Vala and GTK3. It provides similarities with Gnome Shell and MacOS. Support for Pantheon OS is not so wide. Pantheon OS provides eye-candy view.

Pantheon Desktop

Deepin Desktop

Deepin Desktop Environment is a default desktop environment created for Linux Deepin distribution. Deeping Desktop also supported by distributions like Arch Linux, Ubuntu, Manjaro. It is easy to use and provides sleek user interfaces for absolute productivity.

Enlightenment Desktop

Enlightenment Desktop environment also is known as E a compositing and stacking windows manager. It is called “the original eye-candy window manager”. This desktop has low resource requirements and provides original desktop experience. There are some interesting work mechanisms different from other desktop environments. Enlightenment provides its own terminal emulator, video player, and image viewer.

Enlightenment Desktop

Sugar Desktop

Sugar Desktop environment is specifically designed for education. Sugar Desktop developed as a part of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. Suger Desktop is designed, inexperienced users. Sugar Desktop is generally used for children related distributions or applications.

Sugar Desktop

Hawaii Desktop

Hawaii Desktop is Wayland and Qt Quick based desktop environment designed for Hawaii OS a Linux distribution. Some Linux distributions like RebeccaBlackOS uses Hawaii Desktop.

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The Best Desktop Environments For Linux (We Tested Them So That You Don’t Have To)

Last updated August 24, 2021 By Ankush Das 314 Comments

The desktop environment is usually the core of your Linux desktop system for how it looks/feels. If you don’t get a good user experience, it will be difficult to use a Linux distro on your desktop, right?

So, which is the best desktop environment available?

Trying out each and every desktop environment is a very time-consuming and tiring task.

So, here, we’ve created a list of the best desktop environments available for Linux distros along with their pros and cons for you. We tried them so that you don’t have to.

Best desktop environments for Linux distributions

Just to mention, this list is in no particular order of ranking.

1. KDE

KDE is one of the most popular desktop environments out there. You may also refer it as the “Plasma” desktop. Even though it’s not my primary choice, it is highly customizable and extremely lightweight.

Yes, it looks like KDE has managed to beat XFCE as one of the lightest desktop environments. Not just limited to Jason’s test, you will find numerous benchmark comparisons and tests that point to the same result.

KDE also makes it easier to connect your phone with your Linux system using KDE Connect. You will also find Plasma’s browser integration that connects your phone directly to your browser for establishing quick communication.

Overall, it looks like KDE is an incredibly lightweight desktop environment while being one of the most flexible as well.

Some Linux distros using KDE as the default are openSUSE, Kubuntu and KDE Neon. You may also refer to one of our tutorials to install KDE on Ubuntu, if that’s what you want.

• Modern and polished user interface
• Highly customizable and flexible experience
• Several useful tools built-in
• Extremely lightweight

• The customization options and tools might be a little too overwhelming for newbies, leading to potential confusion.

2. MATE

MATE Desktop Environment is based on GNOME 2. MATE was initially developed for the users who were disappointed with the latest iteration of GNOME shell — GNOME 3.

Even though it’s based on the good-old GNOME 2, the MATE team has improved the desktop environment on a lot of grounds. To get some idea, you might want to check out what Ubuntu MATE 20.04 has to offer.

If we take the example of Ubuntu MATE 20.04, MATE desktop is suitable for almost everyone. And, of course, especially for the ones who loved GNOME 2 but hate the new GNOME. In addition to the user experience, it is also worth noting that it is a lightweight desktop environment as well.

MATE comes with a collection of basic applications and includes a number of built-in useful tools.

Ubuntu MATE is one of the official flavors of Ubuntu that utilizes the MATE desktop. Some other popular Linux distributions like Linux Mint, Manjaro, etc, also offer MATE editions of their distributions.

• Easy to use and robust experience
• Lightweight
• Simple yet Customizable

• May not offer the most intuitive user experience

3. GNOME

GNOME is arguably the most popular desktop environment out there. Many of the popular Linux distros use GNOME as their default desktop environment and it has some popular forks, such as Cinnamon.

GNOME is designed to be easy to use and customizable. The user interface aims to provide a unique experience (kind of tailored for both mobile and desktops).

Unfortunately, GNOME isn’t a lightweight desktop environment. So, it’s not a great choice to go with if you are looking to install a Linux distribution on older computers or systems with less than 4 Gigs of RAM.

It’s good to see that GNOME is also focusing on the performance side of things with their recent GNOME 3.36 release.

So, if you want a good user experience with something that looks different from the likes of a traditional Windows layout, GNOME should be the perfect pick.

Some major distros using GNOME are Debian, Fedora, openSUSE and Ubuntu. Not to forget Pop OS 20.04 also features many good things along with GNOME desktop environment.

• Modern and touch-friendly UI
• Can extend functionalities through GNOME Shell Extensions
• Customizable

• Not suitable for older computers
• User Interface isn’t tailored for a Windows user

4. Cinnamon

Cinnamon, a fork of GNOME 3, was initially developed to be and is the default desktop environment for Linux Mint. It is known for its similarities with the Windows user interface which helps new Linux users get comfortable using easily.

Cinnamon tries to present itself as a modern desktop environment while offering a traditional user interface. And, being somewhat light on resources makes Cinnamon a balanced choice for many Linux users.

• Sleek and polished look
• Familiar interface
• Pretty customizable

• May not offer the most intuitive user experience

5. Budgie

Budgie desktop has been developed by the Solus project. In case you didn’t know, Solus is an independently developed Linux distro where they utilize GNOME technologies such as GTK to develop the Budgie desktop environment.

It’s a mixed bag of modern UI and a traditional user interface. It’s not exactly resource heavy but not a complete lightweight desktop environment either.

Ubuntu Budgie — an official Ubuntu flavour features the Budgie desktop as the default. Not a lot of major distributions support Budgie desktop environment out of the box. So, you’d be better off using Solus or Ubuntu Budgie for the most part.

• Solid and intuitive
• Modern UI, elegant looks
• Seamless desktop experience

• Available only on few distributions (can be installed on your own manually)

6. LXQt

LXQt is a lightweight Qt desktop environment. When compared to LXDE, it’s safe to say that LXQt is indeed a lightweight desktop environment while providing a better user experience than LXDE (in terms of its look and feel).

Not just theoretically, but we also found it to be a great replacement to LXDE on Lubuntu 20.04.

Even though LXQt tries to present a modern look without comprising the performance, it is still not the most intuitive experience out there. Of course, if you need performance over the look and feel, LXQt is an impressive choice.

• Extremely fast performing and lightweight
• Decent UI for a lightweight desktop environment

• User interface may seem unappealing
• Not much customizable
• Available only on few distributions (can be installed on your own manually)

7. Xfce

Xfce is one of the most lightweight desktop environments out there. Unlike LXQt, you will find a lot of major Linux distributions support XFCE editions.

Xfce is light on resources but proves to provide a feature-rich user experience. If you need a performance-centric desktop environment without needing advanced customizations, Xfce is a great choice to go with.

To give you an example, I’d recommend you check out our initial impressions on Zorin OS 15 Lite which includes Xfce desktop environment as the default.

Major Linux distributions like Manjaro Linux, Xubuntu, MX Linux, Zorin OS Lite, and several others feature Xfce as the default desktop environment.

• Lightweight and adaptable to old hardware
• Modern and visually appealing
• Windows-like familiar UI

8. Deepin

Sometimes it’s not enough to offer customization options or being light on resources. There’s a lot of users who prefer an eye candy user interface by compromising the performance of the desktop environment.

That’s when the Deepin desktop environment comes to the scene. It may offer a macOS-ish interface in a way but because of the animations and the layout, the looks and feel of Deepin desktop environment is something to appreciate.

Originally, it was only available on Deepin OS, but it is now gradually being added to some other distributions as well. Recently an interesting project (UbuntuDDE) has managed to incorporate it on top of Ubuntu. It isn’t fairly new but it is being slowly adopted by other Linux distributions.

Pros

• Eye candy user interface
• Sleek animations

Cons

• Heavy on resource usage and sluggish at times

So, which is the best desktop environment?

The reason why different desktop environment exists because there’s no ultimate desktop environment. Every user has a different set of requirements. Some look for a fast experience while some drool over an eye candy UI.

Even though we’ve already mentioned the best available in this article, there are a few other desktop environments that deserve the mention. Some of them are:

What desktop environment do you prefer and why? Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Like what you read? Please share it with others.

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