I keep switching between MATE and GNOME. For me, MATE fits my workflow without having to do much. GNOME, I have to install a ton of extensions to get that MATE feel. However GNOME’s night light and overall aesthetic calls out to me more.
KDE feels right. One minor annoyance is that after I switch displays the switcher graphic stays on and the screen kinda freezes. I have to sleep the computer and after wakeup everything works just fine. Also would be awesome if the audio device switch would happen as you swap from DVI to HDMI. Minor things though.
I really really really really don’t like Plasma. I have tried to like it, over and over, but there is just something… off for me.
But then there’s only one DE I REALLY like and two I can stand:
Xfce is my goto. Cinnamon is a new experience for me but I really like it. Gnome is okay, but I have actively moved away from it because the devs keep pissing me off.
What about Xfce that puts a smiled on your bearded face? Admittedly, I’ve only tried it once and while I thought it was love, I realized it wasn’t meant to be.
I agree it feels right, but there’s something about the baked in apps that just feels off. Oh, and while I like options, there are just too many with configuring that thing! LOL.
Well I am old, and Xfce feels like a mix between Win 2000 and Win XP but you know, better.
But more than that it is extremely snappy, extremely customizable (like Cinnamon and Plasma) but also extremely stable. Someone else (don’t know where) said that Xfce Beta release is to merely build your system on concrete instead of bedrock (the stable release). Plasma might use as little memory these days, but it’s… completely different in feel. It is gorgeous until you start using it, and then it feels slow to respond, bloated, while Xfce is almost as clean as Gnome in it’s interface.
Well, when i first switched from windows xp to linux, i started with mate DE.
At that time archlinux didn’t added all stuff to the repo, and @karasu (antergos developer) was kind enough to add the packages so i could use it. (mate was super unstable then).
It’s a very complete DE, light at the same time and remebered me about windows xp (i’m still a fan of it).
Later on for some reason using 400 - 500 ram memory sounded unacceptable for me (i have 16GB ddr3 so don’t know why i was so upset); when i read that karasu (which i always admired) was using i3-wm i decided to give it a try, and i’m still using it proudly. Uses 200 - 300 ram memory (idle).
Going to need to take time to get to know Xfce better. I think I got you beat in the age department. And if the 72 indicates your birth year, then we might tie.