no one mentioned anything about CPU usage though. • 3 mo. So probably best to just keep using Gnome, or else you'll constantly have a "grass is greener on the other side" feeling over you. They've been that way for like a dozen years now, ever since GNOME 3. I have occasionally had issues with cinnamon and how it renders full screen applications. FLUFF. 436 MiB Arch KDE (by Revenge) 446 MiB Sabayon KDE. KDE 5 is the best desktop environment in my opinion. Whatever the RAM usage, XFCE for me is unusable. MembersOnline. I suggest that you just look at some pictures and see what you like more. Jun 8, 2022 · Battle of the Desktop Environments! On the plus side, KDE runs much better on 4GB RAM than GNOME and breeze is a theme that does not break any app, follows freedesktop dark mode specifications, has accent colors and looks professional and sleek. One example is the relatively advanced shortcut key facilities compared to Xfce. XFCE it's great, but there wasn't any significant improvement since '10. Kernel: 5. Yeah, Xfce's compositor isn't great. I used both distributions. The primary difference between LXQt and Xfce is that LXQt uses Qt rather than GTK+. Then try gnome. It's a fable that KDE is bulky. Try opensuse leap 15. It is a good start for learning linux, storage of configuration, tunning of Light environment. I keep fighting myself over this choice. If you are a beginner and have a regular PC/Laptop, you can either go with Xfce or GNOME. 412 MiB KDE Neon. Gnome 3 makes my computer run really hot. Bot as configurable as XFCE4 but if you give it some time qnf check r/unixporn you will see that most XFCE4 things can also be done on GNOME. Feb 19, 2022 · Both KDE and XFCE come loaded with features that distinguish them from the rest of the desktops within the Linux gamut. I haven't noticed any disadvantages by gaming on xfce. Better release schedule, much more responsive packagers, better packaging in general. If you prefer GTK+, you're better off using Xfce. KDE Plasma would be my choice if I wanted a single window manager, and could just fall back from the Wayland to the X version when needed. XFCE and KDE rank well against each other. KDE is Now Lighter than XFCE. GNOME is very rigid, and has a standard and accessible interface. My XFCE desktop running on X11 with picom compositor runs super fast. There are more performance enhancing features in KDE. 429 Mib Arch KDE. Xfce LXQt and LXDE are lighter than Xfce, but that's only one part of the story. I think both are stable. Since Xfce is far less resource hungry, it'll consume less power. Afaik there not much more to it at this level. ADMIN MOD. Compositing can make it look downright sexy. 14-1. If your version of XFCE has "compositing" enabled (see settings -> window manager tweaks) than that is the source of your performance issues. KDE is a lot faster now than last time I used it, and it has a lot more features than Xfce. XFCE = Shet compositor. With enough effort, Xfce can feel like a more modern desktop environment. This is why GNOME and GTK exists, so that non free code wasn't needed. On my primary PC (a laptop), yes, I prefer vanilla Gnome. 489 MiB Mageia KDE. true. I am a bit late but the fact that it is easier to use differnent workspaces in gnome. Will start downloading it immediadly! Thanks for the quick answer! See full list on itsfoss. xfce is. The installer is simple and smart. js apps). 14 desktop used 448 MB. ago. When I was running KDE (Kubuntu, KDE Neon) I experienced glitches and errors at least once a week. (Bonus: distro choice will be openSuse or Kubuntu) If you use gtk apps: Gnome 3 > Cinnamon > mate > xfce. Using deepin DE myself it's been so solid that I haven't distro-hopped for awhile. Also if you come from windows: try cinnamon. 5 - Kubuntu runs KDE Plasma 5. Kwin is one of them. KDE, originally known as the K Desktop Environment, is a powerful and customizable desktop environment that has been in use In this video, I am comparing Manjaro KDE vs Manjaro XFCE in 7 games, and 5 applications. I have been using manjaro KDE for quite a few years now and have been very happy with it. For example, sleeper desktop environment has been XFCE as XFCE offers more robustness than LXDE that lacks much r/openSUSE. Extensions trend to break with a new GNOME version, some even crash your session entirety (Pano). My friend first helped me install Arch, I installed gnome and there was an issue with it, so we decided to switch me over to KDE. Just from my limited experience. With KDE i have freezes and bugs especially with sound manager and modern apps (node. I've used all three (XFCE was my very first DE), and I think it is the perfect balance between looks (Cinnamon) and performance (XFCE). openSUSE is a Linux-based, open, free and secure operating system for PC, laptops, servers and ARM devices. The others I don't have an opinion on. AussieAn0n. Cinnamon, because of its monolithic structure, is by far less customizable. KDE was so optimized and modernized that it's beating XFCE in matters of desktop experience, performance and versatiliy. obviously if you end up using gtk apps in a qt desktop then you add some ram usage by just I'll use the Linux distribution for Programming and web browsing. Join the discussion on r/ManjaroLinux about the pros and cons of Manjaro's three main desktop environments: Plasma, Xfce and gnome. KDE compared to all other distros, even i3, is pretty unintrusive. There are more packages but distro just works! As I described above. The amount of included software, for a lack of better words to come to mind, seemed bloated. Gnome = Shet bloated DE. KDE (I only used it for a very short time) Better fractional scaling support. Compton will give you better performance pretty much everywhere, especially in windowed/borderless maximized games. Jul 7, 2021 · KDE Plasma offers a beautiful yet highly customizable interface, whereas XFCE provides a clean, minimalistic, and lightweight desktop for your OS. My personnal experience with modern hardware is different. •. It runs very well too these days, you can check some of the benchmarks of KDE on OpenSUSE on YouTube, plus I love most of their Qt apps. 107K subscribers in the kde community. 5. 5. Gnome and KDE. pro for MATE is that is a bit lighter, and some would The perceptions are entirely valid, the two DEs are very very different. Xfce is lighter, QT software is heavier than GTK. 389 MiB Void “minimal” + KDE. Yep, it is. Looks pretty clean, and its pretty basic. XFCE is ugly and needs work to make it prettier. best use for xfce is to combine with i3 We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Deepin is decent if you want a beautiful desktop by default and don't want to tinker with anything its very limited in what you can change. After using Gnome shell for a long time and after being tired of slow and unresponsive experience across the DE, i tried mate and xfce desktop and finally settled on xubuntu couple of months back. Bloated and ALPHA. They are both Gnome forks. 304K subscribers in the linuxmasterrace community. 1 TB HDD . Devs don't give a fock for users. 4. It suits well the rolling release nature of Tumbleweed because it is more frequently updated than the other two. Plasma desktop uses 700MB RAM when Xfce uses 400MB. Kde is the most polished out of all the three of them. Plasma 5. 467 MiB PCLinuxOS KDE. old. If u have use kde before go for dragonized if u not. Probably KDE though. 4 with argon repos. Apr 5, 2024 · For the most pure GNOME experience, you should try something like Fedora. Enlightenment E17. But it can also be overwhelming. Gnome is good until Gnome 2 but Gnome 3 is disgusting as of my experience and too laggy. 4, at this moment, 8 jan 2022. The main difference is KDE is backed by Qt Company so it uses Qt development and Gnome is supported by Fedora (which itself is supported by Red Hat) and it uses GTK-style development. Tiling WM are fast, Openbox is lightweight. This week in DistroWars, we have a civil war between MX Linux! Which should you choose between the classic XFCE and the new KDE version? Here we will look at the two distros side by side. [7] My take on the two, KDE uses the QT tool kit, and tries to be more modern. It was a quite good review of XFCE4, it touches some rough edges in the very first contact with the GUI of the desktop environment. obviously the app itaelf matters more then the gtk/qt framework but that my conclusion based on the facts above. 256 GB SSD . It is not as customizable as KDE Plasma but it is not that bad. I think Gnome will be way better for touch devices, but Laptops dont need buttons that huge, its a waste of space. ). LXDE looks more basic compared to Xfce. I like kde for customization. KDE comes in first in the KDE vs GNOME vs Xfce customization contest. I don't know why but I have a feeling that gtk3 is a lot heavier and slower library than gtk2. Personally I think KDE is the best. Oct 3, 2023 · Spread the loveFor those who are new to the world of Linux, understanding the differences between different desktop environments can be confusing. EndeavourOS vs Fedora (Xfce DE) I'm on the Fedora Xfce right now. 1. Future releases of xfce will apparently also get CSD (client side decorations, like Gnome) which I personally hate. But there are several reasons for it to use xfce in first place. So try opening and closing programs and check resources after that. XFCE has does not really do things radical. Honestly though it sounds like you actually want gnome, even though KDE works better in general. Laptop specifications: Intel CORE I5 10th gen . KDE Plasma is definitely better than XFCE in terms of customization but XFCE is lightweight and stable. XFCE and KDE are both very lightweight, but with KDE it is a lot more Customizable and aims to be lightweight and fast while XFCE doesn't have as much customizable options but still is fast. Personally, my favorite is to install both. Aug 22, 2022 · Xfce runs on minimum system resources, so its animations and visuals are limited. (Bonus: distro choice will be Xubuntu, Mint, Fedora or Ubuntu) Directly after booting, my computers use about 550 MB of RAM (plasma, pulse audio etc. My personal favorite is Budgie. Glad to see its slowly moving forwards however. e. I had trouble with Nvidia and XFCE compositing, but now switched to AMDGPU and it's super fast. I would argue it has an identity, and making GUI guides for it is easy. Hence, XFCE is the more lightweight desktop environment when we take a look at the system resource usage. KDE: mix between both but performance wasnt as good and no touchscreen (just click and drag like on XFCE4 but no pinch-to-zoom, rotate, etc). My favorite is DWM with fakefullscreen and center patches. KDE offers a LOT of customization and options (some say it's a bit too much), XFCE a little less IMHO. Yes, it is a xorg, not wayland. Here's a detailed comparison to help you decide whether to use KDE or XFCE We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Which distro will work faster for me? I'm on the Fedora Xfce right now. Graphic Processor: Intel Integrated UHD Gnome by far. I understand some of the reasons for people using it like: Lightweight, easy to use and pretty customizable. Desktop computer: KDE Plasma ️ Xfce Wayland Development Roadmap. Switching over to XFCE. The KDE Plasma was using around 920 MB, whereas the XFCE desktop was using around 760 MB. I want to know which is suitable for me KDE or GNOME and also help me by suggesting a Linux distribution for my needs. It’s my choice. You all make very valid points. Compton in vsync mode will also reduce tearing much better than the Xfce compositor. I have been using xfce with the numix theme and icons. KDE, Gnome, Xfce for the mouse. GNOMEs borders and icons are so huge and wide-spaced, that its really intrusive in my experience. Of DE, the lightest and easiest is i3wm, for advanced dwm, awesome, bspwm. GNOME Circle apps are very beautiful, some apps work really well too. (Also, if this post is necromancy then I KDE looks much more pretty and has a billion themes. Xfce was created as a lighter alternative to the other two. Xfce 4. 8. TLDR : Customize and make things yours before judging them. I See Gnome 42, Gnome 3, Gnome 2, Becoming Gnome and 2 DE's with an X in there name. Kde feels more like windows while Gnome looks like mac os. I use it on my desktop where I'm happy with its performance. Award. Also, Debian has more packages than Arch + the AUR combined. The lightest desktops are Enlightenment, LXQt and Trinity. com Yes there is, using Xfce with the copositor off gives you lower latency, allowing you to react quicker, it also uses less RAM too. This lets me run XFCE, but use KDE effects like wobbly windows. I switched from Xfce to KDE recently because of excessive memory leaks (an old problem) and GUI lock-up bugs (in the newer Debian testing versions). . Gnome is eyecandy in transitions but not in customization, also too big icons and not good at categorizing if you are gonna be a power user on a desktop, KDE will be good if you put time in personalize everything, that's also a problem for starters, has to many options, even the file manager is a challenge, I will start with gnome and if you see yourself at one point going constantly to The grub bootloader would not install manually. XFCE is for me the fastest desktop. In terms of usability, XFCE is better. Mate is better in that regard, but I find KDE uses less ram on boot than either and feels faster to me. My first ever experience with KDE (After having used Mint Cinnamon, Ubuntu Gnome, and Debian XFCE for a bit each) was a bit jarring. Further on MX is based on Debian, where Kubuntu is based on Debian>>Ubuntu. Roy s. Since this DE eats less RAM & resources, it may be even more beneficial for gaming. Fedora KDE is way better than Kubuntu IMO. LXDE was created for the same reason for XFCE. 3 games have been tested on 1080p, and 4 games on 1440p. 18, Xfce's is still planned for 4. The biggest reason is that during the 5. I have my own experience with XFCE and I've found other rough egdes which are really absent in KDE. . you need scaling, don’t use KDE. long story short which uses less resources ram and CPU Xfce or KDE and which lighter qt apps or gtk apps thx We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. I like running XFCE, and then running kwin as my window manager. With time file manager of Mate become very slow comparing to thunar. Jul 7, 2021 · XFCE RAM Usage when Idling. Jan 22, 2024 · Highly customizable Xfce offers plenty of settings, and even things like theming XFWM is a simple task (it's just a handful of images. Pick the one you like the most. I ran Plasma for a little bit but couldn't get my Nvidia 780m Basically, If you use QT apps: KDE>lxqt. That's the main difference you will notice. But personally prefer KDE. It's hard to beat this type of setup for a combo of stability and fairly up to date software. On my secondary (a desktop) I prefer a more traditional desktop layout (like KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, or Gnome + a few extensions. XFCE is faster than all three but I don't like the look and feel. Better UI design language. 6 feels more complete, but it's subjective. Runs on old & semi-old hardware (like mine) nicely and super fast on new hardware. though that might have changed since 15- early 16. Plasma 5 = bugs and bugs. I saw Microsoft software, aka the skype and office suite, and immediately shut down the VM. Your WM usually provides an alt/ctrl click or similar. You can make suggestions other than these two. Xfce in my experience takes way, way more effort to get working on arch and it's not as nice or modern. 18 released. It really depends if you really want customization or just want a desktop that is clean. also xfce = gtk2 , mate is mostly gtk3. Unfortunately, XFCE lacks a lot of modularity. The black side of thunar is copying files. 0. If I may, give a spin to Ubuntu Mate to test a very well refined Mate. 7. Although current KDE version seems to be pretty low on resource usage, XFCE still beats it in terms of performance, speed and simplicity. No hitting the start button to search for programs, just barely configurable, built on a suite of mostly primitive applications (Dolphin and Kate blow them all out of the water), etc. Kde is getting better these days. I like gnome for productivity. 1. EndeavourOS seemed faster to me. The panels of XFCE are really good, really good, they lack some KDE plasma features not in the LXDE (gtk2 version) was snappier than XFCE but XFCE is more polished and requires no workarounds that LXDE required (stuff like screen locking and compositing). I'm glad they plan on using wlroots, I hope it becomes the standard. Without Akonadi, Baloo and other things I don't use, KDE may use less RAM: 385 MiB Void LXQt + KDE. MX is based on Debian Stable and includes backports and extras to get you more updated versions of the most commonly requested stuff (ie. Instead of just adding features, they actively tried to trim useless code, redo inefficient code better, and just make KDE more responsive and less resource intensive in all cases. Or install xfce and kde apps, you can fully use kde apps in xfce. IMO it's the best beginner DE (desktop environment) and i think it has better performance than kde. 8 GB Ram, Type: DDR4, Frequency: 2666 MHz . Mesa: 20. knowing xfce is lacking in development resources, it will probably take a while. XFCE and whatever ships with LXDE really are crap. MX runs KDE Plasma 5. Personally I use sway (Wayland) for most things but keep KDE installed for those times that I need something to just work without fiddling with advanced browser settings. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. I've been using herbstluftwm on ally of my *nix machines for years. Egee's tests have gotten way better this last year, I'm guessing from experience with Distro Delves. Kde is jam packed with features. it doesn’t matter really. i think qt apps are a little lighter since lxde, the super lightweight desktop chose to move to qt instead of advancing to gtk3. READ. I've been a GNOME user for a long time, and really love the Gnome 4x desktop. Great point. I've been wanting to play with Solus but have no reason to switch at the moment. For strict desktop comparisons, maybe it makes sense to subtract the base system usage, (448 - 202 = 246 Mb) to get a better idea of Xfce's memory footprint. Hi everyone! I'm thinking about finally switching from xubuntu, to Debian + xfce. OpenSUSE offers a 1000 packages than Arch with 200 packpages. Xfce was the most popular DE in the r/unixporn survey this year and has continuously been so (okay that's more of a stat than a reason I agree) However KDE dev tries XFCE. Nonetheless, you will notice some stark similarities and dissimilarities between the two desktops, as well. We also tried launching Firefox Web Browser with a single tab, browsing our LinuxForDevices home. XFCE has always been solid. desktop environments). Mate and Xfce are both highly customizable desktop environments. Xfce vs KDE on old/low-end laptop Hey, so I have this old laptop it has a bad CPU and everything what should I use Xfce or KDE since people say KDE uses as ram as Xfce. Mediocre_Field_1661. Search the web for Xfce customization: it's plenty of tutorials. The "mintmenu" makes MATE on LM shine a lot brighter than it on other distros. KDE and XFCE are two of the most popular open source desktop environments for Linux, and both have their own unique features. And not the minimum requirements that way there would be no slowdowns or temp freezes while things are running. I've already abandoned most of Ubuntu by running i3 and various other non-distro specific app replacements for most tasks, and the only xfce apps I'm depending on are xfce4-power-manager, xfce4-clipman, and xfce4-terminal. Apr 27, 2021 · LXQt/LXDE vs. Also once you get into KDE, you can make it look BEAUTIFUL, just Pro for Cinnamon is that it is the flagship DE for Mint and gets the most attention from both the developers and Mint users, if you have modern hardware its what you should run. KDE randomly crashes on every computer I have used it on. Windows 7 themes are available. com also xfce = gtk2 , mate is mostly gtk3. 20. Flexibility, modern and unlike the direction they are going in. Performance difference between XFCE and Gnome Shell is Shocking. In our review, we called it the “Swiss army knife” of DEs. While they haven't done AS heavily since, they are I am sorry but xfce and mate are both by design old User experience while other Major player add a Lot to the Plate. Which for some cases is great. I found XFCE to be the best for gaming. XFCE is lighterweight so I'd say it's more responsive. Of course as stated my other people somtimes different systems may work better on one environment vs another. Reply. Things can be tweaked and Fedora comes by default with some tweaks which improve battery life as per available comparison tests. long story short which uses less resources ram and CPU Xfce or KDE and which lighter qt apps or gtk apps thx Xfce should be better. Where as login to Xfce 4. 2. 23. After reboot and login to just a bash shell with no graphical environment, running free -m reported 202 Mb used. depends on your use. Meanwhile Mate has not made an announcement in a while. I keep switching between the two; a week or two with Xfce, then a week or two with KDE. In fullscreen games the compositor is bypassed so it shouldn't affect performance. Gnome,KDE, windows11, OSx all got improvements over Windows NT ui. For the other software MX has some older packages, but with Flatpaks you can install the more recent versions. Kwin's more sophisticated and better at desktop compositing. And it wasn't just the amount. IRC web client: https://kiwiirc. I still prefer XFCE because it uses the more common GTK toolset, but that's a matter of personal preference. Better, in fact, than my non Manjaro KDE installs which have had problems with breaking and also slowly being outdated (KDE wise) Edit: some people here are saying xfce feels snappier, one thing I recommend if using KDE to make it feel 'snappier' is to turn the animation settings down or off. If what you really want is something lightweight, then I'd say KDE and Xfce are both actually in the middle of the pack. sourpuz. MATE completed its GTK3 migration in 1. Maybe ask around in r/gnome to see if there's any easy fixes for the issues you had. x series the KDE devs really started focusing on optimizing their code. KDE was originally using a closed sourced tool kit (the now dual liscenced QT). If you need to support resolutions above 2k, i. GNOME is second, and Xfce is third. If you’re the kind of person who likes to constantly tinker and change your desktop experience, Plasma may just be the best Linux desktop environment for you. The performance difference between these two DEs and Gnome Shell is huge. KDE is very fluid and customization friendly, thus the dream come true for tinkerers. Has mouse wheel scrolling speed adjustment (Wayland). MATE, with some nice themes, looks just as good IMO as Cinnamon and it performs better. Mate being a fork of Gnome 2 and Cinnamon being a heavily customized fork of Gnome 3. So if you've already decided on Fedora as your distro, pick which DE you like best. Kde - is more customizable and easier to tweak the look and feel. Enjoy your tearing. I prefer Xfce because of my old PC. I hope things are going well for them as I quite like mate. It's at least a kind of informal benchmark I can actually understand, differently from Phoronix stuff which goes way over my head. Of course you can install both in arch and switch between them. Xfce even after closing apps, it sticks to resources. Over many years, many people spent a long time with Linux desktop using either KDE or GNOME. KDE might be a better option for the users moving to Linux from Windows, and XFCE might be a better option for systems low on resources. Xfce vs KDE on old/low-end laptop learning/research Hey, so I have this old laptop it has a bad CPU and everything what should I use Xfce or KDE since people say KDE uses as ram as Xfce. KDE Plasma. Which strikes me as really weird, since almost no one is using GNOME on mobile devices for real-world usage at all. KDE uses the Qt toolset, so applications using GTK can look a bit iffy. Enlightenment is probably the lightest of the three, followed by Trinity (aka KDE 3 on life support). These two environments have grown through the previous years and each of these desktops continued to expand their current user-base. KDE or GNOME. Small windowbar, small taskbar, primary focus on Windows. • 3 yr. I don't know which one is more consistent. 14. Mate is always my choice due to light memory reqs and hi speed. KDE Plasma Desktop vs Xfce Desktop - Resource Usage Comparison. Xfce does not feature any desktop animations, but Xfwm supports compositing. 12. To me, Gnome is second to none in any situation where your workflow is primarily keyboard + gestures (either touchpad or I suppose touchscreen). I have been a happy KDE user since I installed Arch, but then wanted to get the most out of my battery as it was decayed (15% Xfce is great if you want something really light weight and is way more custimizable then most desktops but its harder to do. ) Many possible permutations of window colors, borders, fonts, etc. They are both nice DEs. But if I did want all the bells and whistles that Plasma 5 offers I would be okay using it on my laptop. You can try different compositors to fine tune gaming performance. The pros and cons are the same as the pros and cons of KDE vs GNOME in general, as both are shipped in a pretty vanilla state. also xfce became hwavier on ram since it upgraded to gtk3. dw pt kp ti ej cd cz ul jc pu