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I actually just went back to Linux after 11 years of macOS and I can't say Gnome 3 does it for me either. 10.6 was my favorite version of OS X and I think that

I actually just went back to Linux after 11 years of macOS and I can't say Gnome 3 does it for me either. 10.6 was my favorite version of OS X and I think that OS has been going mostly downhill from there. When switching I realized I've been spoiled with well thought out design and UX, but I must say I really enjoy the simplicity and polish of MATE DE[1]. It's sort of like traveling back to a time when a desktop was a desktop (oh boy, am I getting old) and not a shopping mall were I'm supposed to buy stuff and have my habits tracked and measured. [1] http://mate-desktop.org/ http://mate-desktop.org/

PerryCox 10y ago
If you want a DE that is almost as lightweight as MATE, but has a more modern feel I would recommend Cinnamon[1]. There is also a Fedora spin if you prefer that to Debian based distros. I've been using Cinnamon as my DE for about a year now and I absolutely love it. The biggest thing that made me switch is the fact that it just works. GNOME would shit the bed every time I docked my computer into its docking station, Cinnamon handles it just fine and can even remember my monitor configurations. [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(software)
- smcl 10y ago
  Isn't cinnamon a little cpu/gpu heavy, and therefore power hungry? I tried it a year or so ago and it ate my battery for breakfast (and iirc it was pretty RAM heavy too, but my memory might be failing me here) - switching back to xmonad sorted everything out. Happy to be told I'm wrong, Cinnamon was very pretty and it'd be a nice option for tasks where my xmonad setup gets stuck on (Arduino/Processing and fullscreen VLC)
  - nix0n 10y ago
    > Arduino/Processing and fullscreen VLC You might find LXDE to be a good choice, it is quite lightweight and I have had success with it for both of these. Extending the desktop across multiple monitors was a bit tricky though, but this was about 3 years ago so that may have improved.
    - smcl 10y ago
      Nice, I'll give it a try - I currently switch to xfce for this but I'm not overly attached to it
matwood 10y ago
The macOS issues have forced me to just not be too dependent on the DE that much. I use the hot keys to open apps (command + spacebar), and 3 finger swipe to activate app switching [1]. Other than that, what is most important to me is HiDPI rendering and seamless multi-monitor support. For the most part this works in macOS and is still hit and miss in Linux unfortunately. [1] I'm not sure the last time I opened Finder. It's easier to manage files from the terminal.

PerryCox 10y ago

If you want a DE that is almost as lightweight as MATE, but has a more modern feel I would recommend Cinnamon[1]. There is also a Fedora spin if you prefer that to Debian based distros. I've been using Cinnamon as my DE for about a year now and I absolutely love it. The biggest thing that made me switch is the fact that it just works. GNOME would shit the bed every time I docked my computer into its docking station, Cinnamon handles it just fine and can even remember my monitor configurations. [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(software)

smcl 10y ago
Isn't cinnamon a little cpu/gpu heavy, and therefore power hungry? I tried it a year or so ago and it ate my battery for breakfast (and iirc it was pretty RAM heavy too, but my memory might be failing me here) - switching back to xmonad sorted everything out. Happy to be told I'm wrong, Cinnamon was very pretty and it'd be a nice option for tasks where my xmonad setup gets stuck on (Arduino/Processing and fullscreen VLC)
- nix0n 10y ago
  > Arduino/Processing and fullscreen VLC You might find LXDE to be a good choice, it is quite lightweight and I have had success with it for both of these. Extending the desktop across multiple monitors was a bit tricky though, but this was about 3 years ago so that may have improved.
  - smcl 10y ago
    Nice, I'll give it a try - I currently switch to xfce for this but I'm not overly attached to it

matwood 10y ago

The macOS issues have forced me to just not be too dependent on the DE that much. I use the hot keys to open apps (command + spacebar), and 3 finger swipe to activate app switching [1]. Other than that, what is most important to me is HiDPI rendering and seamless multi-monitor support. For the most part this works in macOS and is still hit and miss in Linux unfortunately. [1] I'm not sure the last time I opened Finder. It's easier to manage files from the terminal.