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4.7 star rating
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Desktop
Desktop Environment
Unix
Unix-like
x11
What is the best X11 desktop that is not based on GTK?
11
Options
Considered
8
User
Recs.
Jan 30, 2024
Last
Updated
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11
Options
Considered
Best X11 desktop that is not based on GTK
Price
Main Usage
Programming Language
--
Enlightenment
-
Lightweight and stylish desktop shell
C
--
Lumina
-
Lightweight Qt desktop shell that supports advanced BSD features
C++
--
LXQt
-
Lightweight Qt desktop shell
C++
--
Common Desktop Environment
-
AIO desktop environment
C++
--
KDE Plasma
-
AIO desktop environment
mostly C++
See Full List
--
Enlightenment
My Rec
ommendation
for
Enlightenment
My Recommendation for
Enlightenment
All
12
Experiences
1
Pros
7
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Tiling or stacking
This Wm can handle both.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Poorly packaged by distributors
Often distributions only pack the desktop shell but not its applications or helpers for bluetooth, wifi etc.
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CaffeinatedPhlegethon's Experience
A really good desktop, the only issue is that the most packages are not packaged in many distributions(eg polkit-client, connman-gui, text editor, picture editor, theme editor)
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
Lightweight and stylish desktop shell
Programming Language:
C
Widget Toolkit:
EFL
Available On:
X11, Wayland
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Fast and good with battery life
Great for laptops.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Just a desktop shell
You might need other apps.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy on ressources
Doesn't use much RAM and doesn't hog your CPU.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Poorly packaged by distributors
Often distributions only pack the desktop shell but not its applications or helpers for bluetooth, wifi etc.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
A great license
Uses the BSD license which is a lot more permissive than the GNU licenses.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Virtual desktop previews
Enlightenment allows for virtual desktop previews within its desktop widget for switching desktops within its thumbnails.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Highly customizable, easy customization
There's a ton of settings stacked into a quite compact settings menu that is easy to navigate.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Beautiful interface
Enlightenment offers a beautiful interface with eye candy: it can be themed easily to the user's liking and includes an optional compositor.
See More
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Get it
here
Recommend
2
--
Lumina
My Rec
ommendation
for
Lumina
My Recommendation for
Lumina
All
9
Experiences
1
Pros
5
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
BSD-license
Distributed under the 3-clause BSD license, allowing it to be used by anyone, anywhere (including in proprietary distributions).
See More
Top
Con
•••
Just a desktop shell
You might need other applications.
See More
ResoluteAnhur's Experience
Nice! no clientside decorations, not bloated like kde and it works on all unix systems.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
Lightweight Qt desktop shell that supports advanced BSD features
Programming Language:
C++
Widget Toolkit:
Qt
Available On:
X11
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Very portable
It does not depend on Linux-based desktop frameworks like: ConsoleKit, PolicyKit, HAL, D-Bus or systemd.
See More
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.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
ZFS snapshots support
The Insight file manager has full support for ZFS snapshots.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Pure Qt apps
Applications are written in pure Qt.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Low memory footprint
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
3
--
LXQt
My Rec
ommendation
for
LXQt
My Recommendation for
LXQt
All
6
Pros
1
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Applications are pure Qt
Applications don't use KDE frameworks.
See More
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.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
Lightweight Qt desktop shell
Programming Language:
C++
Widget Toolkit:
Qt
Available On:
X11
See All Specs
Top
Con
•••
Very limited in customization
Very few themes available, especially modern themes.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Poor file manager
pcmanfm-qt is lightyears behind its GTK version.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Just a desktop shell
You might need other applications.
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
--
Common Desktop Environment
My Rec
ommendation
for
Common Desktop Environment
My Recommendation for
Common Desktop Environment
All
4
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Mature
It is stable.
See More
Top
Con
•••
No development
It is finished years ago and there is no interest to update it.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
AIO desktop environment
Programming Language:
C++
Widget Toolkit:
Motif
Available On:
X11
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Constantly updated
It still gets updates and new features.
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
1
--
KDE Plasma
My Rec
ommendation
for
KDE Plasma
My Recommendation for
KDE Plasma
All
6
Pros
1
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Inconsistent desktop
Newer QML applicaions don't follow the same HIG as other applications.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Many applications
Has an application for almost any task.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
AIO desktop environment
Programming Language:
mostly C++
Widget Toolkit:
Qt
Available On:
X11, Wayland
See All Specs
Top
Con
•••
Desktop Shell does not follow widget style
You need an extra theme for your panel stuff.
See More
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.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Perceived clunkyness and slowness
Compared to other options, KDE is still perceived slow. Especially, the desktop takes a few seconds to login. Mouse pointer can feel sluggish, or laggy, on older systems.
See More
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See All
Get it
here
Recommend
1
--
Trinity Desktop Environment
My Rec
ommendation
for
Trinity Desktop Environment
My Recommendation for
Trinity Desktop Environment
All
4
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
AIO Desktop
Many applications.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Not popular
Updates are slow, community is tiny.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
AIO desktop environment, Continuation of KDE 3.5
Programming Language:
C++
Widget Toolkit:
Qt
Available On:
X11
Top
Pro
•••
Follows one HIG
It was the last KDE version that used one interface guideline for the whole desktop.
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
1
--
Twin
My Rec
ommendation
for
Twin
My Recommendation for
Twin
All
1
Specs
Specs
Main Usage:
Very lightweight desktop for remote systems
Programming Language:
C
Widget Toolkit:
ncurses
License:
GPL
Hide
Get it
here
Recommend
--
GNUstep
My Rec
ommendation
for
GNUstep
My Recommendation for
GNUstep
All
3
Pros
1
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
No native window manager
GNUStep has no native window manager, instead it recommends Window Maker which follows the NeXT design but is written in WINGs („WINGs is not GNUstep“).
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Open implementation of Cocoa
Makes it possible to write applications on GNUStep and to port them to other systems than macOS 10.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
A Widget Toolkit that can provide a Desktop
Programming Language:
Objective-C
Widget Toolkit:
GNUStep
Available On:
X11
See All Specs
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See All
Get it
here
Recommend
--
Deepin Desktop Environment
My Rec
ommendation
for
Deepin Desktop Environment
My Recommendation for
Deepin Desktop Environment
All
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Inconsistent UI
Many applications look different.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
Stylish desktop shell based on Qt
Programming Language:
C++
Widget Toolkit:
Qt
Available On:
X11, Wayland
Hide
Get it
here
Recommend
--
Moksha
My Rec
ommendation
for
Moksha
My Recommendation for
Moksha
All
1
Specs
Specs
Main Usage:
Lightweight and stylish desktop shell
Programming Language:
C
Widget Toolkit:
EFL
Available On:
X11
Hide
Get it
here
Recommend
--
EDE
My Rec
ommendation
for
EDE
My Recommendation for
EDE
All
4
Pros
1
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Lightweight
See More
Top
Con
•••
Not stylish
Look is basic.
See More
Specs
Main Usage:
Lightweight Desktop Shell
Programming Language:
c++
Widget Toolkit:
FLTK
Available On:
X11
Top
Con
•••
Development stalled
No real updates for years.
See More
Hide
See All
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here
Recommend
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