What Is Your Favorite DE/WM? (2025 Edition)

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

On 28/12/2024 at 21:11, Arceles said:

Iḿ going to say Gnome... only because Gnome seems to have the best wayland implementation so far.

Actually, KDE has wayland support now, too. I'm using it myself and get no problems.

[adrynalyne]

On 28/12/2024 at 21:22, Mindovermaster said:

Actually, KDE has wayland support now, too. I'm using it myself and get no problems.

Not to mention the fractional scaling support in Plasma vs Gnome where it’s  still experimental and is hidden. Plasma also has a head start with HDR support vs. Gnome. 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

On 28/12/2024 at 22:43, adrynalyne said:

Not to mention the fractional scaling support in Plasma vs Gnome where it’s  still experimental and is hidden. Plasma also has a head start with HDR support vs. Gnome. 

That, too..

[WITHOUT-ME]

MB5X Linux is the Best

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

On 28/12/2024 at 23:40, WITHOUT-ME said:

MB5X Linux is the Best

MX isn't a DE..

[inactive]

On 28/12/2024 at 22:07, Mindovermaster said:

Well, Cinnamon and MATE are DE's based on GNOME, so.. Yeah, XFCE does sound better, in ways.

I never liked Cinnamon. I'm already into Linux so far, I don't need something that resembles Windows..

I figure why not. as they say... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Cinnamon's basic look is clean/simple and looks good enough and functions well. I figure anything in the ball park of Windows 7's interface is hard to go wrong which that clearly is.

when it comes to interface I am not one of those people who are always chasing 'modern look' etc (as some people want change for the sake of change which makes no sense to me) as once the interface reaches a certain standard (which we have had for a long time now), the rest is just petty stuff overall (like small personal preferences/tweaks) that won't effect ones day-to-day use. plus, having a familiar interface is always a good thing in my book since that standard Windows start menu variation is time-tested that pretty much everyone knows.

even my general day-to-day use of starting programs... I just press Windows key, type a little of the name, it highlights in start menu, then I press enter. or... I load from a desktop shortcut (I have a some programs to start with keyboard combo though, but this is custom/non-standard stuff) which I would assume is pretty typical stuff here. in this regard it's hard to go wrong with Cinnamon or Xfce and the like. I would say it's more about getting a decent enough interface that's the least bloated that works well across a wide range of hardware. I think Cinnamon/Xfce and the like is a good balance here. like you can go lighter, but the look starts to look fairly ancient, and while one can get fancier, it's probably not worth the heavier interface load overall.

but I basically see Mint as a lighter version of Ubuntu and I figure just about any Linux distro based on Debian/Ubuntu is a safe bet since, while there is no strict standards for desktop use in the Linux world, if there was, those two would probably be it because they have been around ages and have plenty of support.

also, I think some have a false idea that Mint is a 'beginner distro' like it automatically excludes 'experts' from using it. but I think it's a false assumption as one reason a lot of people choose Mint is it's familiar and stuff tends not to break (not saying it's 100% but close enough) and just-works (well about as well as can be expected on Linux desktop PC's) etc. it's a wise/safe choice for a OS on a desktop/laptop for any random person who wants to get away from Windows.

p.s. but I guess for people with really recent hardware then Mint could be a potential issue since there is basically 2 years in-between each 'major' version. Mint 21 series was released mid-2022 and it's kernel is basically from Oct/Nov 2021. Mint 22 released mid-2024 and it's kernel is from March 2024. so while Mint 22 is probably recent enough for a large portion of hardware currently, as a little time passes it could become a issue for some people with really new hardware.

[Max Norris]

KDE Plasma, hands down. If it imploded and I had to pick a second favorite, it would probably be Cinnamon. I try Gnome a couple times a year, just can't get into it, way too rigid for my tastes. I do have a box running Hyprland, like where that one is headed. 

[spellingnazi]And I don't want to be that guy, but akshually, it's spelled "Hyprland", not Hyperland. [/spellingnazi]

[Arceles]

On 28/12/2024 at 22:57, Mindovermaster said:

That, too..

This is true, and yet, somehow I get once in a while some graphical glitches in KDE whilst not in Gnome playing steam games. I do like more KDE... a bit convoluted for my tastes, but gnome ain't bad. (Using Arch)