Whats a good alternative to gnome desktop environment?

[swangnation]

Hi guys, I'm new to ubuntu and to the forum.

Just wondering what a good alternative to gnome desktop environment would be? I've got an asus amd laptop. 1.5ghz quad core 4gb ram 500gb hd. Not the best i admit but i can't complain. I bought it for $200 new.
Not looking to do anything major with this laptop. Just some web browsing, maybe the occasional essay on a word processor. Basic stuff.

What would you guys suggest?

[Rubi1200]

Good alternative or a resource light alternative?

There is a difference.

A lot of people like Xfce: https://www.xfce.org/about

[Frogs Hair]

Please see the linked sticky. and also the Flavours link in my signature.

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2415676

[Autodave]

+1 with Xubuntu. I run that on an ald Asus EEEPC and it runs just fine. The Asus is slower than your machine and only one gig RAM.

[similar2]

You can run any desktop environment with these specs, any flavor.

https://www.ubuntu.com/download/flavours
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWp51BAzn-8

The choice is largely a matter of personal preference: KDE Plasma—which has a reputation of being heavy and resource-hungry—runs faster than GNOME on my old desktop tower (I run both)...

I'd suggest Ubuntu Budgie though, for simplicity's sake and no fuss no muss user experience.

Although not Ubuntu-based, Deepin is another excellent choice for a newcomer to GNU/Linux.

https://www.slant.co/versus/1136/26007/~budgie_vs_deepin-de

[Tadaen_Sylvermane]

+1 for Xfce. Install Xubuntu instead of adding to vanilla install imo. Gives good customisation with great performance.

[kc1di]

Best thing to do is download and burn a few live DVD/usb and see which flavor fits your style of operating. I Like xfce and mate is good also.
But it is a matter of personal and hardware choice. So give them all a try. and see which one fits you.

[ping-wu]

the problem with Ubuntu alternatives like UbuntuMate, Xubuntu, etc., AFAIC, is that they use a different set of utility programs. It takes time to learn many of the nuances, as well as different sets of plug-ins, of these utility programs, and once I got used to them, it becomes difficult to get back to the main stream.

Ironically, I found the best "alternative" to gnome is within the gnome desktop itself. In Ubuntu 19.04, I can log into the "classic" desktop, which appears to be snappier than gnome but retains some of the key features of gnome 2 (thus "classic" gnome).

[oldos2er]

What "utility programs " are you referring to?

[Autodave]

That kinda confused me, too. I have used Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, and Studio. I don't recall any differences in the way programs ran or any difference in how I had to run them.

[DuckHook]

@OP

So far, you've heard from close to a dozen forum members, each with their own very subjective idea of what the "best" is. It ought to be obvious that your "question" is of the sort that does not lend itself to having a real—that is to say, objective— "answer".

I wrote the sticky thread that Frogs Hair linked you to for precisely this sort of new users' conundrum. The only proper answer is: there is no "good" alternative, because they are all "good", depending on your needs, limitations and personal tastes. No one can decide those factors for you except yourself.

Your HW is capable of running any of the flavours, including those that are way off the beaten track. Only you can decide which of them work for you and which don't.

Download each of the flavours and try them out for yourself on a LiveUSB. It's all there for you, for the easy price of a download.

Again, the link to the sticky is in my sig: "The Best 'buntu Flavour."

[The Cog]

DuckHook is right. By far the biggest difference between these is how they look and behave, and it's all down to personal choice. There are people on this forum who I respect but whos taste is the exact opposite of mine. The only way to find one that suits you is to try them. All the installers have a try-before-install option as far as I know.

Pretty-much all apps will work on all *buntu versions, although they may look out of place if they are not running on their intended desktop. I KDE (Kubuntu) is more different than the others, but KDE apps do run on the other desktops. Sometimes the features of an app are more important than it conforming to a common look and feel.

[kc1di]

The only differences in the different flavors is the Desktop and it's associated programs. I don't remember any utilities being different. The Base system remains Ubuntu.

[him610]

++Xubuntu I have several machines with Xubuntu. Like AutoDave (post #4), I have Xubuntu LTS 18.04 installed on an atom-powered netbook (Acer AAO ZG5) and also on my latest intel and AMD CPUs. My spouse has Ubuntu LTS 16.04 on her laptop. Xubuntu needs less system resources than Ubuntu.
After awhile on any one desktop environment, it's a matter of preference by what you have become accustomed to.