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What are the best desktop environments for live USBs?
4
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Considered
18
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Recs.
Aug 20, 2020
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4
Options
Considered
Best desktop environments for live USBs
Price
License
Programming Language
--
Xfce
-
GPL, LGPL, BSD
mostly C
--
LXDE
-
GPL
C
--
MATE
-
GPL
mostly C
--
LXQT
-
LGPL, GPL
C++
See Full List
--
Xfce
My Rec
ommendation
for
Xfce
My Recommendation for
Xfce
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All
18
Experiences
3
Pros
8
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Rock solid stability
Xfce will never be the cause of your crash.
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Top
Con
•••
Very slow developement
XFCE tends to be extremely slow in it's development as it has been known to span years between major releases. While this means there are not many disturbing changes to the DE, it also means that new features that are requested take some time to appear.
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DeliberateByggvir's Experience
Easy to use for everyone... this WM is very lite in system resource consumption but highly configurable to obtain what you want...
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Specs
License:
GPL, LGPL, BSD
Programming Language:
mostly C
Widget Toolkit:
GTK+
Available on:
*nix
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Highly customizable
Xfce offers plenty of settings, and even things like theming XFWM is a simple task (it's just a handful of images.) Many possible permutations of window colors, borders, fonts, etc. Compositing can make it look downright sexy.
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Top
Con
•••
Looks ugly out of the box
Out of the box, Xfce is the one of the ugliest if not the ugliest DE out there. It definitely can become the most beautiful and gorgeous DE after a bit of tinkering and theming, but the default theme is not that good.
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SupportiveVoipel's Experience
Runs very stable and it's lightweight but not limiting
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Top
Pro
•••
Works on a wide variety of platforms
Xfce can be installed on several UNIX platforms. It is known to compile on Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, Cygwin and MacOS X, on x86, PPC, Sparc, and Alpha.
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Top
Con
•••
Not a full DE
With a pure Xfce environment you cannot do as much as with Gnome or KDE.
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ConsiderateKumarbi's Experience
Fast and stable
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Top
Pro
•••
Low resource usage combined with flexible configuration
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Top
Con
•••
Looks dated
It just looks like a 20 year old desktop in its stock form. However, it is possible for you to to give it a more elegant look using themes, icons and other customizations.
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Top
Pro
•••
Low system resource consumption
Not just helpful for older computers where few system resources are available, but also simply for those who want to get the most out of their systems.
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Top
Con
•••
Screen tearing issues
The built-in compositor for Xfce does not handle VSync, meaning that it does not address screen tearing for those with Intel integrated graphics. A third party solution will have to be used for those that do want VSync such as using Nvidia proprietary drivers to handle VSync or installing a third party compositor such as Compton.
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Top
Pro
•••
Easy to export or import configurations
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Top
Con
•••
No HiDPI support
Since Xfce is still based on GTK2 there is no HiDPI support (scaling UI elements).
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Top
Pro
•••
Well-defined Session Manager
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Top
Pro
•••
Adheres to standards
A priority of Xfce is adherence to standards, specifically those defined at freedesktop.org allowing for interoperability and shared technology for X Window System desktops. This interoperability is particularly significant for users looking to, e.g., run alternative window managers.
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Recommend
9
--
LXDE
My Rec
ommendation
for
LXDE
My Recommendation for
LXDE
Add Video or Image
All
12
Pros
6
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
You can setup LXDE with the same look across different machines easily
Most of the configuration of LXDE is read from files. Consequently, you can store and manage these files in the same way you might manage other dotfiles, meaning that you can setup LXDE to your liking on a new machine very quickly and easily.
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Top
Con
•••
Problem with log in
"The session is locked" message is a frequent problem when working with Lubuntu.
See More
Specs
License:
GPL
Programming Language:
C
Widget Toolkit:
GTK+ 2
Top
Pro
•••
Designed for cloud networks
LXDE works well on lower end devices such as cloud computers or netbooks. it is able to do this because of its low CPU and RAM requirement.
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Top
Con
•••
No compositor
In order to keep the system light weight and CPU/GPU non intensive LXDE forgoes a compositing program, because of this there will be screen tearing. Though a compositor like Compton can be added for those that want it.
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Top
Pro
•••
Nicely balanced between speed, stability and features
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Top
Con
•••
Only halfway to GTK+3
Most of Xfce's components were built in GTK+2 and the upgrade process to GTK+3 was very slow due to the lack of manpower.
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Top
Pro
•••
The most lightweight desktop environment
LXDE is by far the most lightweight desktop environment, even topping XFCE.
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Top
Con
•••
Doesn't look very well out of the box
But it is very customizable.
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Top
Pro
•••
Simple and straightforward menus
LXDE utilizes a XP like menu which is straightforward and familiar to many users.
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Top
Con
•••
Development has slowed
LXDE is slowly reaching End of Life, but will still receive new updates as long as GTK +2 is in use.
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Top
Pro
•••
Energy saving and extremely fast
LXDE is a simple desktop without a lot of bells and whistles, this allows it to remain lightweight which helps conserve battery power and maintain its speed of use.
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Recommend
3
--
MATE
My Rec
ommendation
for
MATE
My Recommendation for
MATE
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All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Full and fast
Scales better, full compliment themed applets, easily customization. App/Place/Sys menu and other menus, Mint version set at bottom for new Linux users. OPTION for panel background or follows system(with "controls") for theme matching.
See More
Specs
License:
GPL
Programming Language:
mostly C
Widget Toolkit:
GTK+
Available on:
*nix
Hide
Get it
here
Recommend
2
1
--
LXQT
My Rec
ommendation
for
LXQT
My Recommendation for
LXQT
Add Video or Image
All
10
Pros
5
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Utilizes Qt
As the name suggests, LXQt takes advantage of the Qt ecosystem to provide a beautiful and performant user experience.
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Top
Con
•••
Not quite ready for open deployment.
In the current state, LXQT is a beta desktop that feels like a heavy alpha. A lot of the tools and underlying features are in a testing state, while the LXQT project itself has not had a gold (1.0.0) release as of yet.
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Specs
License:
LGPL, GPL
Programming Language:
C++
Widget Toolkit:
Qt
Available on:
*nix
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Great for old and low-end devices
LXQt is unparalleled in its ability to run on the weakest of machines without a problem.
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Top
Con
•••
UHD screens hardly supported
DPI settings are not adopted. The readability, usability of this DE on UHD screens is not advisable. Fonts are not scaled at all.
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Top
Pro
•••
Beautiful GUI using KDE's Qt so it looks familiar
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Top
Con
•••
A lot of bugs
This is a very disappointing desktop environment, it's very buggy. Although there still is hope that these issues will be resolved.
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Top
Pro
•••
Lightweight emphasis
With a focus on being "light-weight", it is to KDE Plasma what XFCE is to GNOME: a familiar enough looking lighter alternative to the more fully featured environment that may work better on lower-end devices and for people who want as lean a system as possible.
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Top
Con
•••
Unthemeable for usual users
As all Qt desktop environments themeing is hard since you need to know C++ , there is a sideway using qss however its not as powerful as GTK, Enlightenment or Windows theming.
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Top
Pro
•••
Modular
By taking advantage of the modular KDE Frameworks, LXQT is able to offer a modular architecture that allows the user to easily swap components.
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