The Desktop Environment Tier List

What is the best Desktop in Linux? Let's look at the options!

Timestamps:
00:00 Overview
00:47 Cinnamon
01:33 Deepin
02:00 Pantheon (Elementary OS)
02:45 LXDE
03:30 Budgie (Solus)
03:50 GNOME
05:09 KDE
05:55 MATE
06:18 Unity
06:53 XFCE
07:30 Nothing is the best? .

[KeithBoehler]

Can you pin my comment reminding people to stay hydrated?

[OnE]

If KDE team spends a few rounds just fixing all the bugs and crap instead of shoving more features just for the sake of it, I believe it would beat everything else by far.

[lisenhatson]

Can't wait for WM tierlist and another tierlist series from Mister Titus, I really like the way he explains why even he ranked it based on his personal experience

[omar.eskandar]

for Gnome, there is an extension manager app that can be used for extension sesrch and installation. it doesn't have to be done through a web browser.

[WASTOIDSUPREME]

I'm a brand new linux user fresh out of the water and I went with mint's XFCE right out of the gate. I've been messing around with different windows-like distros on virtual machines for about a month and mint XFCE just jived with me the best out of all of them. I like that it's so lightweight and still very familiar to a windows slave- I mean _user_ like myself, and it's still highly customizable so I can finally escape the super flat UI pandemic that's been wreaking havoc on the tech industry for years now without using an ancient OS with more security holes than a block of swiss cheese.

[Maxume]

I don't think XFCE receives even remotely the amount of love it deserves. It does have its limitations and quirks. However, if you want a DE you can dress up nicely but you want it to stay out of the way of your workflow, then XFCE is the DE for you. Definitely my top tier DE.

[ussul]

I love Mint you recommended for me. I am not doing a lot of stuff and it is really smooth. + I do not need to do a "lot" line commands. Makes me happy. For me the best OS is the one I do not have to think about. OS needs to be in background and let me do everything I need to with ease.

[Peanutfiendsblog]

I usually just stick with KDE because I've used it so long that I know where every little tweak and setting is. I like trying out different ones but everytime I do, I can't figure out how to do something that I already know how to do in KDE and end up going right back to it.

[WarmProp]

For a laptop, raw GNOME is great if you just succumb to the workflow and don't try to turn it into a traditional floating window DE.

[WagnerBrahm]

I've always liked Gnome. I even paid for Ximian Desktop! I really like Gnome 40 but I have to agree with you, the developers are very stubborn and having to add features, which are often basic like desktop icons through extensions, realy sucks!

[khaoscero]

its KDE Plasma for me.
KDE has come a way. so if the trend continues this could be the one.

[maxmouse]

I love XFCE. Even though people think it's ugly, if you're just a normal user like me, have a few programs on it and needs the basics covered, stable and lightweight it's very good :)
I also like gnome as well but it confuses me to do basic stuff every now and then and I hate friction when it doesn't give me benefits :(

[WolfiiDog]

For like half the video I was like: where's gnome??? Then you moved it out of the black background 😅

I absolutely love modern Gnome, both the DE and the apps. For me, personally, it is the best UI experience I had on any OS ever. I don't like having tons of options available, my mind can't handle visual clutter, and I like having one very direct path to doing stuff.

My problem with most modern apps is that the UI is usually cluttered and full of stuff I don't use, and somehow gnome makes it look cleaner and simpler.

Like there's a lot of gnome apps that do one single thing, and nothing else. That's perfect to me.

[POINTS]

Pretty accurate. KDE is almost GOAT. KDE has come a long way so maybe GOAT is in the future. GNOME has also come along way but by moving down the tier list. :)

Budgie is good too and I almost migrated to it when Unity was EOL but I'm happy I went with KDE instead.

[limpa]

Gnome is great for laptops, especially 2n1’s plus the pop shell has great tiling

[bunnybird]

I'm switching to Linux from MacOS once I get my Framework laptop in a few months. I use Amethyst on my mac so I'm a little tempted to go straight into a window manager on Linux- would love to see a window manager tier list!

[AlbertPaulMariLucero]

Man I'd love a wm tier list from you. You explain your experiences and knowledge on this software pretty well. If you ever do it I hope you include minimal hyprland compositors like sway and Hyprland. Here's to hoping!

[nobody.watchin]

The newer GNOME 43+ releases have been really good to me personally, I only use a couple if extensions (AppIndicator & Vitals) but yeah I know what you mean when it comes to that.

I'd recommend you give it another shot, the simplicity and emphasis on workspaces is really slick. I'm able to multitask really well with it, even on a laptop

[Psoewish]

A tierlist about desktop environments while using a window manager, sounds about right :P

I'd love to see a tierlist for wms honestly, that'd be pretty fun.

[disruptive_innovator]

I love these actually useful tier lists.
Most of the time people make these things for topics and it's just, like, their opinion, man.
Because you include new user perspective, what you prefer using and what has good long term use it IS actually helpful to someone jumping in and confronting a flood of options and opinions.
Hope to see window mangers at some point. I'm poking at i3 currently.