Fastest Desktop Environment for LMDE....

[jmm]

Just curious to hear opinions on other desktop environments and the speed differences you may have noticed with each on LMDE....Opinions please....

Considering adding Openbox or XFCE to LMDE instead of Gnome....Never been a Gnome lover....

I am running a Dell Inspiron 1545 so I don't necessarily need the minimalist desktop but love the speed of the lighter environments....

I have read great things about Crunchbang and their Openbox. I know Antix uses fluxbox and icewm as defaults....Both those are based on Squeeze as well......However,I am staying with LMDE and don't want to run multiple OS's.....

So, once again,opinions on you favorite lighter environments and how they run on LMDE please......Thanks for the feedback....

Mod: Edited title for spelling

[bobcollard]

Same computer and LMDE with XFCE, runs super fast and no problems you cannot solve. When you install XFCE Desktop make sure to include XFCE Goodies and anything else there in Synaptic you find interesting. I had to install Gnome Alsamixer to get the best sound. The rest you can find on Linux Mint Forums if you run into problems. Be sure to use the x86_64 version no matter how much RAM you have. I'm using it now, see my signature.

[jmm]

Thanks for the input on XFCE Oscar....

Did you keep Gnome or delete? If keep, I am assuming you just choose which you want at login?

[bobcollard]

Thanks for the input on XFCE Oscar....

Did you keep Gnome or delete? If keep, I am assuming you just choose which you want at login?

It's Bob, not Oscar, Oscar is our Moderator. I kept Gnome, because when you start removing one system you effect what ever else is there. In Linux there are so many dependencies that are used by more than one application. Once you switch at Login then that will be the default until you switch again. If I can help, let me know.

[Scorpio_Snake]

I use Fluxbox. It is fast and can easily be configured. I use some things from Gnome, which probably slows things down just a little but it is still fast and I have things the way I like it.

[900i]

IMOA, Openbox is the fastest of the lot. Checkout Crunchbang also based on Debian.

[anzan]

I find that GNOME in LMDE runs as fast as Fluxbox in Ubuntu. I have both Fluxbox and Openbox installed but tend to just keep the GNOME session going.

[spandey]

Hi Bob,
I am thinking of trying XFCE. How can I download XFCE x86_64 as mentioned by you?

[bobcollard]

Hi Bob,
I am thinking of trying XFCE. How can I download XFCE x86_64 as mentioned by you?

If you already have LMDE installed you just need to open Synaptic Package Manager and put xfce in the search. I checked the following, your tastes may vary but these needed:
xfce4
xfce4-goodies
Along with that you will get a bunch of dependents, then look at some of the things available like desktopnova if you want a background changer and others that begin with xfce4 that are not already highlighted. If you need further advice I am nearly always close to the computer. Good luck.

[spandey]

Thanks a lot Bob!!!

[Nick_Djinn]

Looks like this is no longer an issue now.

I am considering putting LMDE XFCE on my i5 laptop, though I wonder if it will allow me to fully take advantage of my processor speed, 8gb of ram, and my Nvidia video card with 3d capability (like 3d tv, not just 3d graphics).


Most people spend the majority of their time in browsers, and if this is a way to use all my favorite bells and whistles in firefox yet be faster than Opera or Chromium in Ubuntu, it might be the way to go.

[ppk]

I'm new to LMDE and am also asking myself the same question. Never really liked Gnome either, so first thing I did was to install fluxbox with a tint2 panel. It's far snappier (I have a 3 year old laptop) and it looks good too. I hear 'awesome' is also a nice one, installed it, but can't figure out how to set it up easily so I gave up. LXDE is pretty decent too if you want something lighter that still behaves like your normal desktop.

[asymmetros]

As you can see, i am running Xfce alongside with Openbox. Xfce is really fast and yet a fully functional and rich-featured desktop.
Openbox is a single window manager. With Openbox, i am using thunar (Xfce's file manager), tint2 as a panel (or xfce4-panel as an alternative), xcompmgr for basic transparency and nitrogen for selecting wallpapers.
So, in every login i choose "where to work", xfce or openbox.
Xfce has a well organized graphical interface for everything you may need.
Openbox has only obconf+obmenu -then you need to to work with a /home/asymmetros/.config/openbox/autostart.sh file and there a couple of lines.

[jeffreyC]

Desktop environment Xfce

Fluxbox and Openbox are faster but are window managers.

[nunol]

I wonder which is faster, Mint 10 LXDE or the new Debian based Mint XFCE?

As far as WM go I think Openbox is fast but dwm is faster.

[Nick_Djinn]

Im pretty sure the debian version is faster. I also dont think the Ubuntu based version will exist anymore.


I sure hope that "the rolling release is easier to maintain" doesnt mean they will skimp on progress and hope we wont notice due to lack of specific upgrades.....Obviously their main edition is what most of us care about most, but I really like the XFCE and LXDE versions for netbooks and for revitalizing older hardware.

[nunol]

XFCE beating LXDE... nice.

I believe LXDE will eventually get the Debian treatment and then it will be the fastest Mint DE.

[TheGreatSudoku]

WindowMaker is pretty fast and non-hardware intensive (and old school). Not very user friendly, nor modern. Lightweight, fast, and no bells and whistles other than virtual desktops and it's "dock". I ran WindowMaker on a first generation iMac for quite some time.

Enlightenment 17 is a bit more up-to-date, a bit more hardware intensive, but it blends speed and elegance well. And bonus points to E17 for being original and not try to copy Windows95, Gnome, or KDE's look-and-feel. Until Compiz came along I was strictly an E17 guy. The downsides to E17 are the fragmented repository support, and if you choose to run Ecomorph you'll find it be half as polished and twice as buggy as Compiz.

[nunol]

The last time I used WindowMaker was with Mandrake 7.1 in 2000-2002! At the time I did a few tests between the several WM available and WindowMaker together with fvwm1, Blackbox and Sawmill were the ones with less memory usage. At the time I went with Blackbox.

I like E17, just recently installed Bodhi 1.0.0 in my netbook.

[wayne128]

XFCE beating LXDE... nice.

I believe LXDE will eventually get the Debian treatment and then it will be the fastest Mint DE.

Interesting comparison.
So many people mentioned LXDE is lighter and faster than XFCE.

Yet when I tried, xfce is faster and easier to use...
also quite easy to change stuff.

But one thing I miss is, the thumbnail on file manager.

Do you know how Thumbnails ( all images and videos) can be added on Thunar?