When comparing KDE Neon vs Xubuntu, the Slant community recommends KDE Neon for most people. In the question“What are the best Debian-based Linux distributions?” KDE Neon is ranked 35th while Xubuntu is ranked 52nd. The most important reason people chose KDE Neon is:
Since it's built on the strong Ubuntu base, KDE Neon works seamlessly with a huge variety of hardware.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Works out of the box
Since it's built on the strong Ubuntu base, KDE Neon works seamlessly with a huge variety of hardware.
Pro Configurability
KDE Neon uses KDE as its desktop environment, which is highly configurable, but also has great defaults.
Pro The best looking Linux OS
It really is a great and stunning looking OS.
Pro Works well on low-end computers
Pro Great performance
Xubuntu is very fast and makes good use of resources.
Pro Quick boot time
Boots at about double the speed of most distributions.
Pro Comes with lightweight applications
Xubuntu is designed as a lightweight operating system and Linux distro. It uses XFCE by default and comes packed with XFCE applications which are generally pretty lightweight.
Pro Conservative, yet modern
It comes with all Ubuntu goodness but without bloat, a perfect mix between new ideas and usability.
Pro Customizable
Official distro of XFCE, one of the most customizable desktop environments. In XFCE you can create as many tasks bars as you need and configure every one of their elements and behaviours. You can also change any icon, font, color... etc. Literally there's nothing you can't change in GUI.
Cons
Con Steep learning curve for beginners
It's a really sparse, bare-bones system, no automatic driver install for example. It can be quite hard for someone not used to Linux.
Con XFCE development is slow
The desktop environment used in Xubuntu has not been updated in over two years and is developed at a snail's pace.
Con UI is pretty generic without customization
The default XFCE UI is pretty generic and sometimes ugly unless customized to suit the user's needs and liking. Customization in XFCE is easier than on Unity, but still hard for beginners.
Con Redundant
There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Xubuntu install.