Poll: Desktop environments

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Which desktop environments do you use?

Cinnamon
1476
30%
Fluxbox, OpenBox, Blackbox, *box
147
3%
Gnome Fallback
149
3%
Gnome Shell
464
9%
KDE
543
11%
LXDE
316
6%
MATE
963
19%
Other non-listed DE (Enlightenment, Trinity, RazorQT, ROX) or not using or planning to use any of the DEs listed in this poll.
101
2%
Unity
182
4%
Xfce
642
13%
 
Total votes: 4983

bimsebasse

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by bimsebasse »

"Almost universally hated" - not if you go outside the #tabletrantcodgers channel. Also, there is currently no effort whatsoever in either Cinnamon or MATE to be cross-platform, they are 100% desktop interfaces. Oh how people love to moan :D
Sonsum

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by Sonsum »

bimsebasse wrote:"Almost universally hated" - not if you go outside the #tabletrantcodgers channel. Also, there is currently no effort whatsoever in either Cinnamon or MATE to be cross-platform, they are 100% desktop interfaces. Oh how people love to moan :D
I'd just ignore telenux. If you look at his recent posts, they're all just like this. My favorite is on the Gnome 3 board "Mint sucks".

Hardly an attitude that I want to get involved with.
monkeyboy

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by monkeyboy »

There seems to be a useful shelf life for posts, after too long they become troll and flame bait.
MintRainbow

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by MintRainbow »

As someone who began using Ubuntu in 2009, I found the evolution of GNOME went from a simple interface to a complex, cumbersome and complicated DE. MATE to me brings sanity back to the desktop.

Despite the fact I am using an uber-customized interface away from MATE, when I first saw it, I enjoyed it. It was not complicated, and it's something I can show off to my Windows friends without the W-T-F factor that other DEs seem to have these days.
willation

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by willation »

I use Cinnamon mostly on Linux Mint 13 as my Main OS. I really enjoy it, my favorite and I am sure it will only get better. For older hardware I like the Mate edition. The Linux Mint Team is doing a great job and I am slowly introducing Mint to family. We are winning over M$ users to Linux, which is beginner friendly with Linux Mint. At the very least get them started on dual-booting :mrgreen: Customization with Cinnamon is awesome, changing the taskbar to the top, adding multiple workspaces with Expo, and the hot corner is fun and easy to get used to. I am definitely Mintspired with this release! This is the Best Desktop of 2012!
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by Alphonse »

Having migrated from KDE to Unity to Mint Cinnamon, my search for the best desktop is over. Cinnamon reigns!
Linux AL

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by Linux AL »

I love XFCE, LXDE i think they work gre8 on old hardwares
flugmint

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by flugmint »

While its still early days for cinnamon it looks, to me, like the way of the future. I'm using it on a daily basis on my main production system. Sure, there are still lots of tiny issues (its a little bit hungrier than it should be, for example... :wink: ), but I can only see this DE becoming truly GREAT!

Thanks to all involved... :)

-flugmint
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ingeva
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by ingeva »

Mod/Admin, please remove this post.
Thanks.
Last edited by ingeva on Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mint rules! (20.1 MATE) Cinnamon go home! :)
AlbertP
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by AlbertP »

I don't need Mate's panels. Cinnamon does what I want it to do.
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ingeva
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by ingeva »

AlbertP wrote:I don't need Mate's panels. Cinnamon does what I want it to do.
The panels in MATE are a fork of Gnome 2 panels. They allow you to have launch panels along the sides of the screen, instead of on the desktop where they are being covered by application windows. Also, they allow you to start programs using one click instead of several. That's called efficiency. Efficiency is pleasant for people who want something done.
Cinnamon has panels, and you can make two (upper and lower) but they do not allow you to put launchers in them, so in effect they are useless.
Mint rules! (20.1 MATE) Cinnamon go home! :)
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by AlbertP »

That you cannot make launchers in Cinnamon was perhaps the case in older versions but it's not true anymore. In Cinnamon 1.4, which is used in Mint 13 Cinnamon and present in the Mint 12 repository, you can right-click items in the menu > Add to Panel. There are your launchers.
Adding them manually is also possible by right-clicking any launcher > Add.
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ingeva
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by ingeva »

AlbertP wrote:That you cannot make launchers in Cinnamon was perhaps the case in older versions but it's not true anymore. In Cinnamon 1.4, which is used in Mint 13 Cinnamon and present in the Mint 12 repository, you can right-click items in the menu > Add to Panel. There are your launchers.
Adding them manually is also possible by right-clicking any launcher > Add.
Didn't work for me. I tried the latest version, just av few days ago.
I have noticed that you can install the mate desktop in Cinnamon, but considering all the problems with it, I'd say it's better to run MATE.
Mint rules! (20.1 MATE) Cinnamon go home! :)
buzzingrobot

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by buzzingrobot »

I want to like Gnome-shell more than I actually like it at this point. So, I install Mint 13 Cinnamon, move the panel to the top, put a dock on the left, and it dawns on me that it's just like gnome-shell except that it has a traditional menu instead of all those big icons in the Overview. (Gnome copied that from OS X. I'm also an OS X user and I never use that feature.)

The only real difference I can see between the Cinnamon panel and the Gnome-shell panel is that Cinnamon shows open apps in the panel. And, a Gnome extension does that, in any case.

Gnome-shell is supposed to be rather unconfigurable. I usually stay with a default theme, but Gnome uses CSS, just like Cinnamon (for obvious reasons).

I'm staying with Mint for the time being. Maybe. I may decide to go back to Gnome-shell and add the Cardapio menu.
bimsebasse

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by bimsebasse »

buzzingrobot wrote:The only real difference I can see between the Cinnamon panel and the Gnome-shell panel is that Cinnamon shows open apps in the panel. And, a Gnome extension does that, in any case.
The panels are very different - in Cinnamon it's a busy place for applets and system tray icons you are meant to interact with and configure whereas in Gnome Shell the panel merely holds the indicators and isn't designed to be populated with anything or configured though you can add third-party extensions.

Try a very simple task like reordering 2 panel indicators in Gnome Shell. Then try the same in Cinnamon.

(I'm a Gnome Shell user and this was not a Cinnamon fanboy post, but there are many differences between the two and it irks me to see posts suggesting otherwise. Cinnamon doesn't have the unified overview, calendar/online accounts integration and the extensions site - Gnome Shell doesn't have built-in configuration and it's quite limited what you can do in that area with gnome-tweak-tool or extensions)
buzzingrobot

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by buzzingrobot »

bimsebasse wrote:
buzzingrobot wrote:The only real difference I can see between the Cinnamon panel and the Gnome-shell panel is that Cinnamon shows open apps in the panel. And, a Gnome extension does that, in any case.
The panels are very different - in Cinnamon it's a busy place for applets and system tray icons you are meant to interact with and configure whereas in Gnome Shell the panel merely holds the indicators and isn't designed to be populated with anything or configured though you can add third-party extensions.

Try a very simple task like reordering 2 panel indicators in Gnome Shell. Then try the same in Cinnamon.

(I'm a Gnome Shell user and this was not a Cinnamon fanboy post, but there are many differences between the two and it irks me to see posts suggesting otherwise. Cinnamon doesn't have the unified overview, calendar/online accounts integration and the extensions site - Gnome Shell doesn't have built-in configuration and it's quite limited what you can do in that area with gnome-tweak-tool or extensions)

Why be irked? It's just software.

I like Gnome-Shell, too. But, since I have Cinnamon configured much the same as I'd configure Gnome-shell, there's no reason to change. It hasn't occurred to me to reorder panel indicators. I never tweak things much at all beyond adding my own wallpaper. You're right about the overview, calendar, online accounts in gnome-shell, but those are pieces I forget because I don't use them. As long as I can put a few applets/extensions in the panel and a dock on the left, I'm OK. I can do that with Cinnamon (with Plank as the dock) and with gnome-shell (kill the Dash and add a dock via extensions.) I don't manipulate applications that are running via the panel, so their presence there in Cinnamon is only a visual distinction as far as I'm concerned.
Mushorwell

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by Mushorwell »

I have been running LMDE Cinnamon on my 32bit 1.6 ghz Amd athlone processor, 3gb ram machine. Although I like Cinnamon very much, it doesn't quite agree with my driver as it often shows its lag when playing videos/ watching movies, especially fast paced action films with a higher frame rate. I have even tried disabling the effects and still there isn't much change. Also when scrolling I can see the lag as opposed to lxde which is much smoother. Ironically, KDE seems to handle the videos much better than Cinnamon. It however may not necessarily be an issue with cinnamon itself but may be rooted in the gnome shell as GS has the same problem. Gnome fallback seems to actually be unaffected by the problem but I don't like it's huge fonts especially with the menus.
I am therefore forced to leave Cinnamon for other lighter DE's. I tried xfce which I really like and would have settled with if it isn't for the frequent freezes it has often resulting in me having to logout and login again in order for it to work :( . I therefore went on to try openbox, KDE, Enlightenment and lxde. Enlightenment is amazing, it's near perfect except that I cannot seem to find a way to install the other emodules as well as ecomorph in order to enable ecomorph :( I also have a little problem with the inconsistency with the gtk apps, usually giving them the ugly redmond widget style. Guess some of these problems are due to my ignorance to the WM, I would therefore appreciate any hints or links to threads that may be be useful on this. With openbox, everything is so simple, I quite like it but am not sure I would be prepared to use it fulltime, KDE is probably the one I was most likely to choose, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the options and settings, what makes me distance it however is the inconsistency with gtk applications. While some can be set to adopt the oxygen look and can even be enforced using a gtk-theme-changer, some of the applications seem to look not work and adopt the redmond widget stye instead which does not look good at all especially with a sleek KDE desktop. Lxde is nice and simple, though I really miss some of the cinnamon applets like the weather applet etc for which I cannot find an equivalent applet on lxde. I am however gathering an interest in tiling window managers namely awm, I have previous experience with xmonad which I quite liked, very good, fast and straightforward. I am therefore considering getting awm as long as I can get a setup that will allow a taskbar of some sort (most vids I have seen with awm have this) that can make it easier for me to find some applications I cannot remember the names. I also want to ask whether it would be still possible to theme the window widgets so I am not stuck with the redmond look (though at this point I honestly wont mind if everything looks the same as long as awm can be setup on LMDE to be fully functional. I would appreciate any enlightenment tips as well as those for awm among the problems mentioned in my post. If my post is going off topic I don't mind it being relocated to a more relevant thread if there is one, otherwise I can make a new one simply for this.
Lastly, I would like to thank the linux mint team for all their great work especially with cinnamon and their latest releases (which probably were their biggest challenge yet.) I hope that cinnamon will continue to be improved and gain new features as well as improvements on its stability and speed. Hopefully it will also improve as gnome shell gets faster and more stable as well, and please if the global menu is to be implemented to cinnamon, please can it rather be done like in unity (macbook style) rather than the dropdown menu used in gnome 3.4 D: I see it more as a drawback as it isn't really consistant with the whole shell feel. The whole idea of gnome 3 was to depart from the traditional dropdown menu-type that gnome 2 had, and yet now an unnecessary dropdown menu has been reintroduced to the shell. Anyways, that is just my 2 cents, the global menu in GS 3.4 are ugly and waste space as opposed to those in unity which are embedded in the taskbar.
bimsebasse

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by bimsebasse »

There is a Cinnamon 2D session now (in development release, not in the stable channels) which may help users with poor graphics support
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Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by kmb42vt »

@Mushorwell - There's also the option of trying LMDE with the MATE desktop environment (or the Linux Mint 13 main edition with the MATE desktop) . Since it's a fork of Gnome 2.32 and does not require 3D graphics it might solve your problems.
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baptiste

Re: Poll: Desktop environments

Post by baptiste »

I've looked up ecomorph to know what it is, and development has stopped. such is the problem of a window manager in "perpetual beta" as I've read somewhere.
http://code.google.com/p/itask-module/wiki/Stuff

if you want to change gtk style have a look at lxappearance, it's part of lxde but as any lxde component it can be installed separately. it's a must when using minimal window managers or setting up your own environment.
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