Best alternative Linux desktops: 5 reviewed and rated

Best
By published

See how good your Linux desktop could be

We were ready to make allowances and make encouraging noises about it only being early days, but all five of the desktops are so good that this would only be patronising. Each criticism, therefore, should be taken as a compliment. The least accomplished DE here is unquestionably Razor-qt.

It has the fewest functions, but that's hardly a criticism, as the developers' primary aim is to keep it light and simple in a way that KDE 4 is not. In this aim, the team has succeeded massively. With more development, we'd love to see the traditional KDE distros offering this as an alternative option at login time, for KDE users with more modest hardware.

Everyone's a winner

The surprise package has to be Trinity. It's a note-perfect reimplementation of KDE 3, which means that it's full of features, it looks good, it has tons of software and it will run passably well on old hardware.

If you don't think you like KDE, try Trinity and there's a good chance that it will change your mind. Which leaves us with Cinnamon. When we first tried it in LXF157 it felt half-baked, but the last few releases have knocked the rough edges off and provided a seamless fusion of Gnome 3 glitz and Gnome 2 usability. Linux Mint wins again.

1st: Cinnamon

Web: http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/
Helps you get to the applications without getting in your way.

2nd: Trinity

Web: www.trinitydesktop.org
KDE sceptics will be amazed, not least by the usable default settings.

3rd: Xfce

Web: www.xfce.org
Full-featured, stable and the best choice for 3D unbelievers.

4th: Mate

Web: http://mate-desktop.org
Occupies a niche that has already been filled, but usable nonetheless.

5th: Razor-qt

Web: http://razor-qt.org
Bags of potential as a KDE alternative, but not ready for mainstream use.

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