Hi, I don't want to get into debates or anything, sorry..

I just would like to know if there's any numbers-based source that shows which desktop environment is more popular or least buggy.

I'm trying many distros and desktop environments and I'm so confused.

Which works easier with programs/apps/widgets/applets/etc.. than the rest? (regardless of the distro itself please)

I just want to "settle down" on one choice any help?

Please I don't want to waste your time by explaining that "it depends on what you need" etc....

I just would like to know the most popular...that's all

Something like this: http://www.itworld.com/article/28811...vironment.html?

This is not numbers based but summarizes the features reasonably well.

1 members found this post helpful.

Good luck, I will be interested in what you choose.

I was happy with KDE4 as it had reached a stable state, but then when I upgraded my distribution they had "upgraded" to KDE5 which is once again unstable.

Very frustrating.

1 members found this post helpful.

The nicest thing about Linux is that you have choice. You can switch among several different environments to find the one of your choice.

After using many Operating systems for many years, (on and off) I still use Win 7 on a daily basis, alongside Linux
currently Linux Mint, The reason being that for too many years all Linux systems where and are buggy. I try to go with the principal (as most of the general public do) It just needs to work. Yes I have been down the path of using geek
stuff BUT this is the path that the Geeks and Nerds prefer. To summaries UBUNTU was in the Beginning very good in comparison to most Linux distributions. But then along came the Cell phone Internet Android Problem. Which appears to be the path that the general public have turned to. Now All systems have to be compatible to Desktops,Tablets,Cell Phones.Now there is also the Major problem of Computer compatibility with multiple systems. Like Win 10 you cannot run Win 10 on old computers even though m'soft say you can there Is the CPU problem.Linux overcame this problem many years back. Enough I am getting off track. Check Linux Org for what systems are more popular they put up the numbers.

Thanks guys for all your input appreciate it

I think I'll be going with the more traditional one, the one with the least bugs. (still searching) I do know that I will face issues (it's almost a natural order of things) every now and then. But I was trying to find what the popular opinion about it here in LQ is and hear what the more experienced users think.

@sundialsvcs you seem experienced from your rep and all that. I understand the idea of "freedom" but from your perspective; tell me which desktop environment did you face least problems with? You see, this is what I meant by asking my question Not my own preference but what works instead. And automatically this will be my preference. and who knows? maybe someday I will be a developer in that desktop environment!

Just my experience and opinion: I've been using Ubuntu LTS series and Gnome for as long as they have existed. Currently I'm using a Dell 1545 laptop with 3 gig memory. Runs great. Never a problem. Using network to two other local older Dells running previous versions of LTS Ubuntu , video editing, word processing, Internet, Gnome terminal (used to be Nautilus). I'm very happy with reliability and performance. And yes I've used other releases of Linux and every relese of Windoz back to when the entire release of each was on one 3.5 floppy.

This is a good guide to the ones available, with links to their sites
http://www.renewablepcs.com/about-li...-gnome-or-xfce

If you like the more traditional look, then it's Xfce, Mate, or a tweaked KDE. My vote would be Xfce. KDE I find a bit too flashy and intrusive, and I've seen the occasional (admittedly rare) bug in Mate, but Xfce just sits there quietly and does whatever you need it to.

just go for CINNAMON !!!

http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/

I've had at least 20 distros running on various machines since RedHat 2.0 around 1998. At first, it was fun trying to get them to work properly. I enjoyed the challenge. I especially had fun getting Apache to work on a SuSe machine. I learned a whole lotta things about the kernel and even edited drivers. But alas, I am older now and I just want my machine to work; I don't want to fix it. For the last 4 years I've used Mint and I am totally happy with it. I now use the latest Mint Cinnamon and it has never crashed or given me any problems. Sometimes I can't configure something that I want to change (like the dull gray borders), but who really cares. Everything works.

Art

A good idea for most people is "don't go alternative alternative". If you're picking an alternative OS, pick the main desktop it ships with.

So, use Ubuntu or Mint and don't change the default desktop/window manager used.

Your requirements are unfortunately contradictory.

The "most popular" is the most complicated because people demand all sort of complicated crap now. Nobody wants to command-line configure things any more, so you have window managers that try to do everything. And with that, you get bugs. In my 15 years of using Linux as a desktop and server OS, I've always seen bugs in the major window managers (KDE and Gnome). Major ones - stability, configuration loss, etc. etc. Sorry community, that's my experience.

SO... for the most stable, go with the most simple. This means something like Fluxbox or Awesome window managers.

You can tell from the apparent contradictions that what I recommend to others (Gnome/KDE) is different than what I use for myself (Awesome).

3 members found this post helpful.

As you may be getting the idea, there is no one answer because it is what works best for you. I personally love Enlightenment, which most find an acquired taste!

That said, I think the best bet for stability, independent of distro, would be XFCE. It has been around long enough and develops slowly enough that it is rock solid. The basic interface is nothing to write home about -- very classic (think XPish ascetically), but can be customized no end to the point that it is nearly as slick as KDE. (Along these lines see the Voyager distro. Incredible!)

Cinnamon has come a long way, but I find it to be mostly MATE with eye candy and "desklets." Still it is solid. The relatively new entry LXQt is now solid and probably in the path of refinement rather than remake.

Note that none of DEs are standing still (perhaps with the exception of Trinity?) and you can expect growing pains as they move forward. KDE was great from 4.9 on, but 5 is still a work in progress (although some are using it on production machines). GNOME3 may be stable these days if you like the interface, but the changes in GTK3 keep breaking themes for apps no matter what DE you use.

In the future, both MATE and XFCE will *eventually* have to transition to GTK3 -- and LXDE will then disappear leaving its newer cousin LXQt. Oh yes, and every distro, regardless of DE, will be affected by the shift to Wayland.

As Alex Atkin noted with KDE, major DE overhauls generally have a shakedown phase, so the distro becomes important. If you want stability, you don't want a distro that seeks to be on the edge like Arch or Fedora. Rather go with something like Mageia where the last release remained with KDE 4 because of stability issues. (KDE 5 is available for backporting.) My point: DEs cannot be considered independently of distros.

A short list of recommendations:

Mageia - solid distro, KDE4 in place for a least another year or until KDE5 settles down. (Other DEs available including primary alternative GNOME, plus Cinnamon, MATE, XFCE, LXQt, E.)
Voyager - XFCE as good as it gets. (Go with the Debian version!)
SolydXK - XFCE or KDE - stable Debian base
Mint - Swiss army knife of distros, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, KDE (Remember Debian Edition here for MATE/Cinnamon!)
Xubuntu - always solid reviews
Manjaro - XFCE (Distro close to cutting edge, so I'd stay with XFCE here as it gets a lot of attention as the flagship DE for the distro.)

(Disclaimer: I am not a Ubuntu fan, part of my reason for leaving Mint behind. The reasons are philosophical, but, as you can see, there are good non *buntu alternatives. My main distro is Manjaro, still periodically use [and like] Mageia and have tested Voyager and SolydXK.)

I've tried a dozen different distros over several years. Always go back to Mint. (17.0 Cinnamon now.)

1 members found this post helpful.

As somebody earlier said, the best bet is the default DE (Desktop Environment) in each distro. I believe Linux Mint is a good distribution and their Cinnamon DE is good enough. Unity, Gnome also are not that bad for average user. KDE is not bad either but I guess it's not that popular apart from Europe. KDE has lot of configuration options and those who uses it swear by it for it's eyecandy, apps and configurability. Some of them are die-hard KDE fans who even recommends/forces for it as the default DE blanking out other DEs and X Window managers.(Oldies - remember the tuxmagazine controversy, where they blindly believed kde is used world over while the reality is not so). (I've a feeling that KDE users enforcing their choice over others. Remember KDE vs Gnome flamewars where so rampant in the yesteryears.)

I'm hoping Linux Mint go up with the Debian way (LMDE) which can help that distro grow independently instead of relying on Canonical and Ubuntu.
http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

Other issue is the taking over of Linux by systemd groups; whether it is a plot by government or other vested interest groups to create securitywise weaker desktop linux distros so that security agencies and hackers can sneak easily into Linux systems. I hope major distros shoo away systemd and settles for openRC or whatever free init systems that exists including dead project like upstart.
http://without-systemd.org/wiki/inde...gainst_systemd

1 members found this post helpful.

The solution to how buggy a desktop is has more to do with what distribution you use than what desktop you use. All desktops go through development cycles and are buggier at some points in time than at others. Different distributions have different philosophies on the trade-off between bleeding edge and stable code. If you are worried about bugs in your desktop then you should pick one of the more conservative and stable distributions whatever desktop you use.

Alex Atkin UK said, "I was happy with KDE4 as it had reached a stable state, but then when I upgraded my distribution they had "upgraded" to KDE5 which is once again unstable."

The solution to the KDE 5 instability was to switch to a more conservative distribution which was still on KDE 4.

-------------------
Steve Stites