THE Desktop Tier List: KDE Plasma vs GNOME vs ...

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[ps]

KDE is a mess. They should just give up. Most Linux desktop environments are stuck in the 90s.

[mavfan]

Just FYI tier is pronounced like fear and deer, not like tire. I was going to say tear like when you cry but tear can also be pronounced like fare or bear like when you rip something. Hope that cleared up English! 😂😂😂

[Wonderingax]

I love using Xfce, I often miss many things Xfce does when using Gnome or Plasma. I found it to be the most intuitive and I love its simplicity and look, customizing it is quite easy. It has such a Unix DE aura. If its able to go full Wayland soon I dont think there is a chance I will use something else.

[guilherme]

1)Plasma.
2)Mate.
3)Budgie.
4)Cinnamon.
5)Unity
6)Gnome.

[TeleviseGuy]

I would really want to see that random video with all the KDE Plasma Mobile+ stuff as an April Fools-type joke

[weedmanjunior]

I don't mind you saying TIRE when content is good

[catoflado]

Cinnamon is not gnome 2. Its much easier to customize and its extensions dont break.

[gwlanbzh]

Where link to the spreadsheet tho ?

Maybe I'm blind but I scrolled all the way down the description and the comments and couldn't find a link to a google doc or anything 🤔

[offertunatea]

I like KDE as much as gnome, but it feels like almost apps run much more smoothly in gnome over in KDE.

[haplozetetic]

I've used a number of the window managers mentioned, including Window Maker, FVWM, Afterstep, Icewm, and a few others a little after Redhat released version 5. I still use Icewm on my old computer at work due to low memory. At home it's mostly KDE, but I occasionally run Icewm or Enlightenment. Once you become used to some of these older WMs, they still feel like home.

And, yes, most, if not all of those mentioned are real. I recognized a fair number of them.

[joshua_lee]

So when are you gonna delve down the rabbit hole of window managers?

[m-vendor]

I wish kde, xcfe and gnome developers unite and create something unique and stable.

[davidfernengel]

I‘ve been using afterstep at lot, but that was like 20 years ago ☺Not to forget icewm with the OS/2 Warp 3 theme 😊. Anyone knows that one?

[Krill]

So here's a comment about MATE: I am a huge Gnome 3+ fan so I am definitely not in the "hurr durr traditional desktop or die" camp, but MATE is the best "old-school" desktop on Linux/Unix imo. It still got the Gnome magic, its application set is made of forks of old Gnome apps, and they are a lot more powerful than equivalent Xfce apps, MATE is much easier to customize than Xfce both graphically (hi keyboard shortcuts) and under-the-hood (dconf vs. whatever that abomination database xfce uses), and for some reason feels nicer. Also the Applications/Places/System menu is an instant rush of nostalgia. It used to be much more actively developed than Xfce but it seems its development has died down and I am worried about the project being dead or mostly dead.

[zeiooneioo]

Come on! Don't put them all in the same tier super level! Get your hands dirty and say at least: "I prefer that upon that because is cooler".
It's just your opinion, we won't blame you to say KDE is your favorite and say XFCE is the worst... Wel maybe I will, but it's just me

[oredaze]

I'm not a desktop environment guy, but I was trying them out again this week to see what's up and KDE still feels the best to me. However there are still really annoying things about it, for example I can't disable the resizing by dragging with mouse on window corners (especially top). I want to quickly move a window by snapping my mouse to the top edge of the screen where windows often spawn, but I end up resizing instead. That can happen even if a window is not at top, because the resize handle is so close to the titlebar. Most of the times I use Meta + mouse, but I want only one hand usage too.
The Alt+Tab is also bad, despite all the options. Why can't I just cycle focus without windows hiding or something?
The panel is ugly, if I switch to latte dock... that's too laggy for me. I end up going with Plank, but that's what I use on openbox and that wm doesn't have the issues I talked about above...

TLDR: Desktop environments are heavier despite lesser functionality...

[UTRFRCE]

I do think you might find Sugar/sugar on a stick desktop environment worth exploring for a short video. It was a desktop system designed for the one laptop per child initiative.

[sjeses]

The most accurate tier list I've seen.

[fabianarkista]

The funny thing is that the latest version of Windows 11 brings as a novelty the preview of all kinds of files and new sound controls just like KDE

[ByteMeCompletely]

All desktops miss the most important idea, IMHO. I need a dashboard that allows me to monitor the speed of transfers through the system. Mint's file manager tells me the transfer speed. From my NAS to my local SSD, it's 34.4 MB/sec. KDE Neon doesn't provide the transfer speed. Windows discloses the transfer speed. I wish all Linux DEs would develop a useful, informative dashboard.