9 Best Linux Desktop Environments That You Can Use

Desktop environments contain many GUI elements, including wallpapers, toolbars, icons, desktop widgets, etc. If you are a Linux user, you can explore various desktop environments to tweak your GUI, like Windows and macOS. Today, more than 47% of developers are using Linux OS and the market share is growing at a rapid pace. Besides this, it has over 25 million lines of code among which 817,000+ are added, 258,000+ are removed and more than 11,000 lines of code are modified. Besides this, having a rich user experience is all that we need. This is where the vast list of desktop environments comes into play.

However, the enormous list of desktop environments may confuse you when choosing the correct one for the system. So in this article, we will give you brief information about the best Linux desktop environments.

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments That You Can Use

1. GNOME

GNOME is a popular, free, open-source desktop environment built for Linux operating systems. The word GNOME stands for GNU network model environment and offers users dependability, simplicity, and ease of access. Originally, GNOME was developed under a GNOME project built by paid contributors and volunteers.

This desktop environment comes with major Linux distros such as RHEL, Fedora, SUSE Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, and many more. Moreover, it also supports GTK-based applications and extensions to extend its options. 

2. XFCE

XFCE is a lightweight desktop environment that offers a visually beautiful and user-friendly graphical interface using fewer system resources. This desktop environment has hundreds of plugins to personalize everything according to the requirements. That’s why XFCE is not only best for the old machine but also satisfies the needs of a power user. 

XFCE doesn’t have any animations or added effects, yet it serves its job quite well. This desktop environment is based on the GTK toolkit and uses the Xfwm, i.e., a window manager.

3. KDE Plasma 

KDE Plasma is one of the most flexible desktop environments that offer the most contemporary appearance and feel. The latest version of KDE is KDE Plasma 5, the fifth and latest generation of this desktop environment. KDE Plasma 5 has “Breeze” as the new default theme and includes a highly enhanced convergence for different devices. 

This desktop environment has several unique programs, including digiKam, Dolphin file manager, Amarok, Krita, Okular document viewer, etc. Additionally, there is an official variant of Ubuntu with KDE called Kubuntu.

4. MATE

MATE is a lightweight desktop environment with a simple-to-use and attractive interface. This desktop environment is free and open-source for Linux,illumos, and  BSD. The history and origins of the MATE and Cinnamon desktop environments are almost similar. MATE, like Cinnamon, is forked from GNOME 2 to offer extra features that GNOME 3 does not contain. 

The most notable part of the MATE Linux desktop environment is that it does not consume your hardware resources. You can run MATE on low-end machines with basic hardware resources, like Raspberry Pi.

5. Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a free, open-source, easy-to-use desktop environment derived from GNOME 3 but following traditional desktop conventions. It contains themes, plugins, and modules to personalize everything with a little effort. The desktop layout is identical to GNOME 2, i.e., the underlying technologies derived from Gnome Shell.

The Linux Mint development team initially developed cinnamon to offer something different to users. Due to its highly conservative design model, this desktop environment is similar to XFCE, GNOME 2, and MATE. 

6. Deepin

The Deepin Desktop Environment (DEE) was initially developed for Deepin Linux distribution only. Deepin is a Linux distribution that provides attractive, simple, stable, and secure systems worldwide. However, it is now compatible with several Linux distributions, including Arch Linux, Manjaro, and others. 

Deepin also has a well-designed and user-friendly interface and supports various applications to simplify everything. Furthermore, Deepin has the most user-friendly design requiring the slightest modifications and adjustments. 

Note: You can refer to this article for an installation guide – How to Install Deepin on Linux?

7. Budgie

Budgie is a free, open-source, and great desktop environment developed to provide a hybrid of the modern and traditional user interface. It’s not precisely resource intensive, but it’s not a lightweight desktop experience.

This desktop environment has been developed by Budgie organization, a team of contributors from various Linux distros like Debian, Arch Linux, Fedora, etc. Ubuntu Budgie is the official Ubuntu variant that comes standard with the Budgie desktop. Budgie’s design mainly focuses on minimalism, elegance, and simplicity. 

8. Pantheon

Pantheon is a desktop environment that looks similar to macOS. It contains the dock at the bottom contains applications with a stylish and unified design.

Pantheon has become a hotbed for new Linux applications thanks to the core project’s innovative pay-what-you-want payment scheme. However, this desktop environment’s customization and extensibility are limited. This desktop environment is used in the Elementary OS, but you can use it in different Linux distros. 

9. LXQT

LXQT is another excellent lightweight desktop environment. Due to its low RAM and CPU usage, LXQT is a modern edition of LXDE suitable for cloud servers and legacy infrastructure. This desktop environment’s ability to run on even the most essential devices is unparalleled. 

LXQT is the default desktop environment on many Linux distributions, including Lubuntu-Lightweight Linux, which is based on Ubuntu, and several others. LXQT doesn’t contain the default window manager like LXDE because it lets the users decide which window manager they want to use. 

Which Linux Desktop Environment Should I Choose?

So this was the complete information on the 9 best Linux desktop environments you can use to customize your system visually. We have included these desktop environments due to their popularity and extensive features.

We recommend using Cinnamon or KDE  if you want a powerful and feature-rich desktop environment with a Windows-like interface. However, you can also consider using a lightweight desktop environment such as MATE or Xfce if your computer system only has limited hardware resources.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which Linux desktop environment is the lightest?

One of the simplest and light-weight Linux distributions is Sparky Linux which offers a variety of desktop IDE that is well suitable for beginners.

2. How to choose the best Linux desktop for you? 

There are certain factors that you need to cater to first before picking up the best Linux desktop, these are:

• Hardware requirements
• Stability
• Scalability
• Support
• Usage

3. What is a Linux Desktop?

Just like macOS and Windows, Linux is an open-source desktop environment that directly connects with the terminal and keyboard making it easy for developers to work on.