I think XFCE is one of the most "normal" desktop you can get, but I suppose that depends on that is considered normal nowadays. It has a bar with a menu, a list

I think XFCE is one of the most "normal" desktop you can get, but I suppose that depends on that is considered normal nowadays. It has a bar with a menu, a list of open windows, and notification/status section. It has a desktop where you can place folders, files and shortcuts. It's context menus make sense. It's not perfect but with a few simple tweaks (most of which are scriptable via xfconf-query) they can be fixed. Instead of trying to maintain a desktop across my machines, or over rebuilds, I just run my script and I'm done. The biggest gripe I have with it is the file choose/save dialog. It's default focus isn't the filename field (like WTF). Let's say you're going to save a file. When the dialog opens and you start to type, it starts to filter files in the current directory. It's totally f*ucking stupid, extremely annoying after the second time you encounter it, and not easy to change in the settings. You need to get under the hood.