One of the first things you’ll notice when trying out Linux for the first time is the sheer number of options available for its desktop environments (DEs). While the likes of KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, and GNOME have more or less always been the most reliable and popular picks, there exist quite a few alternatives that in many ways offer a better experience. Here are six Linux distros that might even be better than what you’re using now.
I tried 4 lightweight Linux distros on a 4GB laptop, and one surprised me
It’s always the one you least expect.
MATE
Is Gnome 2 good?
MATE is based on a fork of the classic GNOME 2 interface, and is a throwback to the classic design language of GNOME. Everything you’d expect from a complete desktop environment is here, including panels, applications, and a launcher menu.
The story behind MATE is an interesting one. It was initially conceived as a community fork of the older GNOME 2 interface in 2011, right after GNOME 3 was announced. This was an attempt to preserve GNOME 2 after GNOME 3 took things in an entirely different direction.
Since it’s built on top of the now-mature GNOME 2 codebase, MATE is incredibly stable and not at all resource hungry. In fact, MATE works best on older hardware, while still managing to look relatively modern (and pretty!).
XFCE
Lightweight and gets the basics right
The classic XFCE (also known as the XForms Common Environment) desktop has been around here for a long time, and still maintains its popularity today (even if it’s not as well-loved as KDE or GNOME). Still, this desktop deserves a special mention.
Unlike modern desktops, XFCE is built with modularity in mind. You can use the desktop as is or strip it out for something completely custom — without breaking it. This modular approach makes XFCE a bit of a unicorn, and also happens to make it quite lightweight.
XFCE is incredibly resource efficient, and perfect for resource-starved systems. Unlike MATE, XFCE is slowly modernizing by shifting its codebase toward Wayland, which makes it a lot more viable for long-term use.
LXQt
Built for lower resource consumption
Initially created as a spin-off of the GTK-based LXDE, LXQt uses Qt for its desktop instead. Switching to Qt brought several benefits, most notably its modularity.
LXQt is extremely customizable and is not a monolithic shell. On the contrary, it is composed of multiple components and does not ship with a window manager by default. This means you can pair it with relatively modern Wayland compositors to Frankenstein a desktop together (such as with Openbox). It has also been aggressively pushing toward Wayland as of late.
The biggest draw of LXQt is its lower-than-average resource consumption, and it is a lot lighter than LXDE, despite having modern features. It also happens to be perfect for those who use Qt-based apps a lot.
Openbox
Rock solid
Unlike the other entries within this list, Openbox is more akin to a window manager, rather than a traditional desktop environment. Which makes it perfect as a stacking window manager used in conjunction with other DEs (mostly since Openbox does not come with built-in panels, menus, or even an actual desktop).
Openbox should be treated as more of a traditional window manager, wherein you’d have to add in your own components, such as Rofi, Polybar and more. It’s also a floating window manager, instead of your usual tiling variety.
Openbox is also distinct in being a very stable, finished project. It has been in maintenance mode for quite some time now. It’s a rock-solid option for folks who know exactly what they’re doing and don’t mind sacrificing a few features for stability.
Budgie
In active development and quite dependable
Created by the Solus Project back in 2014, the Budgie desktop has outgrown its Solus roots to become a great, standalone desktop environment for everyday use. It is presently managed by Buddies of Budgie, an independent, community-led organization dedicated to developing the desktop environment.
Budgie excels in its simplicity, and the first thing you’d be greeted with would be a rather strange, empty-looking desktop. That’s only scratching the surface, though, and Budgie has a fair bit of customization baked into its settings. Interestingly, Budgie does not enforce any defaults, and you’re quite likely to find different themes and setups for each Linux distribution here.
It has seen a lot of updates in the past few months alone, with a focus on Qt6 and Wayland for the upcoming Budgie 11. It’s not perfect, but it still is a rather curious desktop environment that offers something different, which makes it a refreshing change from something like KDE.
Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE)
A bit of a dark horse
Deepin is one of the more polished desktops within this list, and can look absolutely stunning when set up correctly. When we talk about Deepin, it’s usually the Linux distribution, but it is thankfully possible to install the Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE) separately on most distros.
DDE is a beautiful desktop environment that looks amazing out of the box, though it has earned a reputation for being somewhat unsafe. Major distributions like Fedora and openSUSE officially dropped DDE support due to systemic security vulnerabilities, unpatched code, and a general lack of transparent developer communication.
Use whatever fits your use case best
It goes without saying that you should always feel free to experiment with Linux desktops. Each desktop is a bit unique, offering different feature sets and interfaces. One desktop might not click with all users, and therein lies the beauty of Linux, which would be in its seemingly limitless set of choices.