What options stand out for those looking for a more fluid, faster, and less resource-consuming desktop environment? Popular choices like GNOME, KDE, and XFCE exist, but I'm torn. Which one do you prefer and why? It would be great to focus especially on performance and ease of use.
What's the best desktop environment for desktop Linux?
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I was in the same boat a few years ago: after switching from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu back then) GNOME 3 on Wayland felt way too inflexible for me—far too many clicks for simple things like window positioning or panel tweaks. Under load (e.g., several Docker containers + an IDE) GNOME’s RAM usage suddenly became a problem, even though I had 16 GB.
So I moved to KDE Plasma (Wayland). The transition was surprisingly smooth—the Activities view is different, but the window management and customizability (global menu bar, script integration, etc.) fit my workflow perfectly. Under load my RAM usage stays around ~1.2 GB (with Firefox, VSCode, and a terminal), which is acceptable for a daily driver. Plasma feels to me like a bridge between macOS aesthetics and Windows usability—without the resource‑hogging of GNOME on medium‑to‑large projects.
XFCE would have been an option for me back then, but it looked way too much like “old‑school Windows XP”. With the latest theme packs Linux Mint XFCE looks nice, but the lack of HiDPI support in some applications bothered me on my 4K monitor. For older hardware or absolute minimalists it’s still a solid choice.