Hi everyone, been using XFCE for a year, just love it - but, installing Linux for a friend who loves the bells and whistles. What would be the best option for the most fancy Desktop if you want things like "wobbly windows', desktop cube etc.? KDE? SHould I use one compatible with compiz? Which one? Cheers!

I think the "right" answer is probably something like, "well download some mainstream distro's with the "heavier" desktop environments and get them to use each DE, then let them tell you which one they like the best".

Personally, I prefer KDE, but it is a personal choice once again. I think for the "bling factor", KDE should fit the bill.

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+1 for KDE and it's what I use.

Just do a web search for "customization + KDE plasma" for ideas. But it all depends on the personal taste of the user. So maybe download a few *buntu's and see what your friend likes ? [I vaguely remember Sabayon lets you test multiple DEs in live mode, unsure about its status now]

Also, KDE runs on the heavier side and I have seen/read people on the web come close to calling it 'bloat'. So if the target machine is low on resources, it is not recommended.

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Pop!_OS is supposed to be quite flashy but still efficient and nice to use. I haven't looked at it just yet but have only read some positive reviews.

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You can add Compiz to a desktop environment, if it doesn't come with it already, to produce the bling effects your friend is looking for.

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Yes. Compiz will give wobbly windows, the cube, and other very flashy effects. Also, some desktop environments will add their own bling such as desktop "wallpaper" slide shows. However, if the desktop environment (DE) does not have that, that particular trick is possible with additional programs. I think Shotwell might be one that can do it.

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XFCE and compiz is do able, at least on manjaro it is. so it should be on others as well, you'd just have to figure it out. this is what I use as a list of what to install on manjaro, the git one, it'd give you a place to start, if you want to take another step further into the realm of wobbly windows, and a globe on xfce.

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/how-to-i...n-manjaro/4212

the names of the packages may have changed a little to suit whomever is maintaining them for whatever distro you're using.

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side note, PoP os,
who are they to decide?

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Enlightenment is annoyingly "bling-bling" - and, unlike KDE, there is no way to disable that.

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The chief developer of Salix once said to me "KDE makes even Mac users say Wow!" I think that sums it up. OpenSUSE or PCLinuxOS should be fine for your friend: both are good quality as well. The latter turns off some bling by default, but that's easily remedied.

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It's not the distro, it's the desktop environment. Hands down, out-of-the-box, KDE. It includes lots of widgets that you can use to eye-candy it up and other ones you can add.

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it's a rare question - usually people ask for lightweightness!

KDE was the obvious first thought, but yes, definitely try enlightenment for some (surprisingly lightweight) bling!

also, slightly off-topic: https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term - now if that isn't nerd-bling, i don't know what is!

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oh cool-retro-term, I have not messed with that term in a bit, that is one sweet terminal. Niffty even.

KDE has most fatures built in, including compositing, of one which alternatives is compiz. KDE has "bling", but this "bling" is only there if it serves a practical use and gives the user options and alternatives to adapt things to ways that they prefer. KDE has tons of functions, and everything is pretty much configurable by the user. KDE can look and work pretty much any way you prefer, and some of those functions come from various "bling".

I think KDE is the best of any desktop on the market, by far. And that includes all versions of Windows and Mac OS 9 and OSX versions. I never liked Gnome 2 much, I would rather have used something like Blackbox or Enlightenment instead. Gnome3 is quite nice, but the SystemD stupidity does not work in their favour. Gnome3 is for me despite this, better than Gnome 2. Worse than Gnome 3 is "Unity" which in my opinion is a poor interface in the same class of poor as Windows 8 and Windows 10 GUI's. XFCE might be more Windows XP like, but this is better than Windows 8 at least.

Enlightenment is very light btw, and it has alot of bling. It does things in an interesting way, it's own way. Many say it is a Windows Manager, but in my opinion it is just borderline full desktop. You can expand it yourself and use some very interesting themes to create some unique graphical environments. Not sure how support for plasma or QT is, but support for GTK was in the past quite poor, and some GTK elements would come in and make things look ugly on the nice Enlightenment desktop. I can only hope they have fixed such issues now. I know they have made a Wayland port, which will probably end up becoming a great Enlightenment desktop compared to it's X version. e25 might be able to take control of all graphical elements in a unified way and render things the way it wants with the effects it wants.

I can't wait to try Enlightenment on Weyland once it is properly matured.

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haha, I just figured out how to get that Globe thing instead of the box thing for Changing VDT's in KDE. woo Hoo! But you too can set up XFCE for use with compiz that is a nice too whence you get all of your customizations set for the DT and Copmiz stuff. as well as Compiz is portable, it can be used with other DT's so that makes it nice if you find a particular DT you like using, then find out how to put Compiz in it.

disclaimer:
not all DT/WM are compatible with Compiz, but if they are cool!