Linux - Desktop environments

KDE

Pros:

1. Very good.
2. But it is a resource hog.
   1. When I installed it on Lenovo T420 with 8 GB RAM, when the computer started up, fastfetch showed that it is using 2.32 GB out of the available 8 GB.

Cons:

1. Too fancy for my taste
2. Switched to LXQt from KDE
3. For whatever reason, the flow doesn’t seem natural, probably because, the layout is quite unique to this OS.

LXQt

Pros:

1. Very good.
2. Minimal resource utilization. Yet, doesn’t compromise on functionality.
   1. When I installed it on Lenovo T420 with 8 GB RAM, when the computer started up, fastfetch showed that it is using about 600~700 MB out of the available 8 GB.
3. Doesn’t look as bland as xfce.
4. The default apps (qterminal, screengrab) seem great.
5. qps task manager seems very nice. Very compact with only QT5 dependences

If using a non-tiling window manager is ok (or, preferable), this is a great choice.

XFCE

Cons:

1. Looks very old, very bland.
2. Can feel like Windows 98.
3. Not a tiling window manager

Pros:

1. Lightweight and simple to use
   1. When I installed it on Lenovo T420 with 8 GB RAM, when the computer started up, fastfetch showed that it is using about 815 MB out of the available 8 GB.

In XFCE, there is a utility program called ‘Preferred Applications’ that lets you change the default applications for browser, mail reader, file manager and terminal emulator. If you want to change the default applications, this is a very helpful tool.

Linux Mint

Pros:

1. Lightweight and simple to use
   1. When I installed it on Dell Precision 5540, when the computer started up, fastfetch showed that it is using about 1200 MB.