8-Way Desktop Comparison On Ubuntu 13.10 Linux

[droste]

Bug in Gnome Shell prevents it from direct-rendering, and Kwin doesn't enable it by default due to buggy graphics drivers (Michael didnt say he DID enable it, so we have to assume he left defaults)... both results are invalid until the bug is fixed and Michael enables KDE direct-rendering

He mentioned in in the second paragraph:

Each desktop was left in its stock/packaged configuration though for KDE's KWin the option to disable window effects on fullscreen windows was utilized

[Ericg]

He mentioned in in the second paragraph:

Thanks Droste, I went looking for a line like that but I must've missed it.

Maybe KDE is hitting a similar bug to gnome where its not properly unredircting?

[GreatEmerald]

Yes, XFCE is pretty nice. Though KDE is also nice, just a bit more resource-hungry by default. Generally I haven't seen people having too much trouble adapting to KDE from Windows, either. And it does provide a lot more configuration options.

[Kostas]

Knew there was something wrong with those GS results. I wouldn't expect Unity to catch up with it until they re-write is complete and somewhat mature.

[alexThunder]

I just updated KDE from 4.10.3 to 4.10.4 and benchmarked both with Unigine Valley - same results, also on Xfce 4.10.

[verde]

Ubuntu with Unity is a fantastic and professionally executed desktop. arranged, fresh, easy, productive, secure, fast. Very good job. Canonical is the only company in the world that can offer a real alternative to Windows and Mac users (and free).

All the other distros/projects are limited to a very specific user (geek) or feel incomplete.

Xubuntu is the best option for old machines. I replace Windows XP with it on many PCs and I receive only positive comments. Zorin OS is an alternative too.

[Delgarde]

I wonder how Cinnamon stacks up to standard gnome as it feels like one of the slowest around, personally I have always been using xfce on my laptop as it performs rather well and can be customized a lot.

I doubt there's any difference... Cinnamon and Shell are basically the same codebase. The screen layout and widget interfaces are different, but there's no real difference in the bits that would affect performance...

[kazetsukai]

Why would anyone use Compiz with KDE? These Ubuntuers are crazy!

I use compiz with KDE. Reasons:

• KWin does not allow for Output Device / Geometry Customization
• KWin does not detect TwinView screens as such when you are using multiple X DISPLAYs
• KDE's Event Framework lacks screen edges, mouse events. Therefore, KWin lacks them too.
• Changing KDE event buttons to a custom configuration doesn't persist sometimes, and often they just refuse to work at all.
• Compiz has a ton of useful plugins that Kwin does not. Example: Desktop wall.

The guys calling KWin superior in every way imagineable are idiots, at least when it comes to usability. I can use one of my 10 mouse buttons to scale windows in Compiz, a bug was submitted for this against KWin years ago. I can set keys on my keyboard to do things and expect them to actually work. I can customize individual plugin behavior with extreme granularity. Ultimately, the desktop behaves as I want it to, because I use Compiz.

The INSTANT these things are fixed, I'll use KWin.

Lately, I've been thinking about switching away from KDE altogether. Perhaps I'll go with something different like i3... but personally I'm hoping that Razor-Qt takes off. I don't need activities in Plasma, I don't need the extremely heavy root window/panel/widget monster that is Plasma. I'm begging for a more minimal desktop but I'm reluctant to switch GUI to something on another GUI toolkit. Again, PRAYING Razor-Qt MURDERS KDE in its sleep, much like XFCE's coup over Gnome.

[Chaz]

Bug in Gnome Shell prevents it from direct-rendering, and Kwin doesn't enable it by default due to buggy graphics drivers (Michael didnt say he DID enable it, so we have to assume he left defaults)... both results are invalid until the bug is fixed and Michael enables KDE direct-rendering

That is helpful info, but explaining the source of a problem does not make the problem any less real! You say Gnome 3.8.3 has a bug that makes it slow, and the results say it's slow. That's valid. He's testing Gnome as it exists now, not a future version, and not a hypothetical bug free version. If Gnome 3.8.4 fixes this and doesn't add any new problems then that will be good, and I'm sure someone will do a new round of tests that gives them credit for it.

[frign]

Ubuntu with Unity is a fantastic and professionally executed desktop. arranged, fresh, easy, productive, secure, fast. Very good job. Canonical is the only company in the world that can offer a real alternative to Windows and Mac users (and free).

All the other distros/projects are limited to a very specific user (geek) or feel incomplete.

Xubuntu is the best option for old machines. I replace Windows XP with it on many PCs and I receive only positive comments. Zorin OS is an alternative too.

Ubuntu is the only GNU/Linux-Desktop which doesn't require changing your computing-habits. I would call it a gateway-distro.