When comparing Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) vs Xubuntu, the Slant community recommends Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) for most people. In the question“What are the best Debian-based Linux distributions?” Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is ranked 7th while Xubuntu is ranked 52nd.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro It’s faster and more responsive than Ubuntu-based editions
Pro Feature rich
Incredibly lightweight yet feature rich and familiar desktop. Low CPU usage. Low memory usage. Runs VMs super smoothly. Native apps are universally best in class stable open source tools.
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 May not work with newer packages from Ubuntu
LMDE is Debian based and while Ubuntu is also Debian based, Ubuntu uses newer packages than the version LMDE is based on, which can lead to some Ubuntu apps not being able to be installed.
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.