Pick the right desktop setup to boost your productivity.
Pick the right desktop setup to boost your productivity.
You're just starting your journey with Linux and it's been really engaging so far. I'm still figuring out its purpose since most of my current tools are Windows-only, though a few work on MacOS. Exploring the terminal and coding feels rewarding as I discover new possibilities. I plan to set up a dual booting configuration rather than relying solely on virtualization, which should provide smoother performance. I'm also getting familiar with different desktop environments now. Deciding which one suits me can be overwhelming because I have so many options. I was considering a modern Gnome setup with its prominent sidebar and the bottom dots that resemble a Mac Launchpad. Initially, I thought it might be Unity based on some screenshots, but I later realized it was a bit different. I've also experimented with Xfce, KDE, Cinnamon, and Budgie. So far, Budgie and the original Gnome have stood out to me for their sleek design and smooth animations. Xfce felt more like a Windows clone with a less appealing interface...I'm unsure about Cinnamon and KDE's strengths compared to others. When picking a desktop environment, what factors should I prioritize? Should I continue using the default Gnome or try Budgie for its polished look? What unique benefits do each offer over the rest? Or are there other options worth exploring beyond what I've tried? Thank you for the guidance—I'm eager to learn more about Linux!
It’s straightforward—choose what matters most. If you notice a gap while using them, it might mean they don’t fit your needs. You said XFCE didn’t appeal to you compared to Gnome, but I’d lean toward XFCE since it’s much more flexible for customization. It seems like you didn’t see the point in tweaking it, which suggests Gnome had limitations you hadn’t noticed.
I find this fascinating since I'm just starting out with customization. Windows doesn't usually let you tweak many things at once, so I'm not used to having highly adjustable settings. What kinds of tasks did you enjoy using Xfce personally? It would help to understand what you liked about it.
In XFCE it's really easy to add, remove and change everything about panels. You can change their color, their transparency level, their size, their position, their behavior and the elements that appear on them just by going through some menus. You can change color schemes, icons and window decorations through the appearance settings menu (whereas modern Gnome needs third party tools). As for practical examples: Spoiler This is XFCE: this is also XFCE: and so is this: Now, I don't actually use XFCE myself - in fact, I don't use a DE at all. DEs come with a lot of utilities (think panels, settings menus, widgets) which are preselected by the DE's developers, and often made and maintained by them. I prefer a simpler setup where I choose a window manager (in my case i3) and have direct control over what utilities I use for what (if any) and a much more granular control on my desktop's appearance and behavior (though as you saw in the screenshots above even with a DE the sky is the limit). This is my laptop's desktop (it has changed a bit since these screenshots but nothing major): Spoiler If you want some inspiration you could check out r/unixporn on reddit.
Please excuse me. You need to adjust it according to your requirements.
Absolutely feasible, even with the menu icon. Just invest a bit of effort. A solid foundation could look like this: https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1216281/