Thinking about Gnome -> Xfce

[_simon_]

I normally run Ubuntu but just thought I'd try Xubuntu knot2 via the live option. It seems quite "nice" but apart from the obvious differences i.e. thunar instead of nautilus etc is there any benefit to using xfce?

Gnome doesn't run slow for me, not sure if Xfce would be noticibly quicker or if there's anything I currently have that won't work for any reason?

Specs:

Athlon 3200+
1Gig PC3200
40 + 80gig HD's
128Mb Geforce 6800 / 19" LCD
Audigy 2 ZS
DVD RW
Cannon Lide 20 Scanner
HP Laserjet 4+ Printer
Logitech MX700 Mouse
MS Digital Media Pro Keyboard

[PapaWiskas]

Xubuntu rocks, I love it.

I also am growing very fond of my OpenBox configuration as well...

[_simon_]

Xubuntu rocks, I love it.

I also am growing very fond of my OpenBox configuration as well...

What do you love about it?

[Brunellus]

the *box windowmanagers (black-, open-, and flux-) are light and very configurable. They also have a cool, minimalist aesthetic.

[argie]

I just installed xubuntu on my other computer and it seems to take up slightly less memory ("free" says the same amount is free as under ubuntu, but system monitor says I have a couple of MBs more free).

The menu opens quicker and thunar loads faster than nautilus. That's all I can see so far. I've not gotten into using that computer heavily.

Specs:
700MHz Intel 82810
128MB RAM
10GB Ubuntu partition. (totally)

I can't really "feel" the difference on my faster computer though.

[fuscia]

on my old desktop, openbox ran clearly faster than anything else, but with my more powerfful newish laptop, firefox and thunderbird open faster in both kde and gnome than it openbox. i have prelink and preload set up, which i also had set up on my old desktop. it didn't make any difference on my desktop, but does on my laptop. i guess it's a matter of havig enough power to make them work well. oh, and thunar rocks and can be used in gnome, kde and openbox, not just xfce.

[Kindred]

I like the lighter window managers (openbox especially), they tend to be faster for me even on my modern machine and have features that make going back to Gnome feel a bit clunky. The menu on right click for example and the ability to switch desktops with the mousewheel. Openbox has a bunch of other possibilities, but Xfce's pretty good too, I certainly prefer it to Gnome.. but it's a preference thing.

[hizaguchi]

I've been using Edgy for a couple weeks, and some parts of gnome have been occasionally hogging up 100% processor power, so I thought I'd switch to Xfce till it leveled out. I couldn't do it. In my opinion, Gnome is more attractive, easier to use, and just as fast. If you have an older/slower computer, Xfce is amazing. But on my laptop (which is similar to your desktop) there is no noticeable performance difference, so changing just feels like a pointless downgrade.

Your mileage may vary though. Some people run Openbox on incredibly fast computers because of personal preference. I like lots of features and the feel of Gnome myself.

[PapaWiskas]

I have a newer laptop, and XFCE is just faster than Gnome, not that Gnome is slow by any means for me, but it just has a snappier feel to it.

And OpenBox, I just like the minimalistic feel to it, and I like some of the configs I have done to it. The more I play with it the more I like it, so I switch between XFCE and OpenBox alot, with a splatter of Gnome thrown in. KDE, I just cant seem to grasp any love for it, dunno why. But I digress, my apologies for rambling....:neutral:

[K.Mandla]

It just has a snappier feel to it.
I think "snappy" is the operative word for it. I use XFCE almost exclusively (the exception being mom's computer (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=156175)), and the only shortcoming I have ever discovered between it and Gnome is in the realm of digital camera support.

I got into XFCE because it has lighter hardware requirements (you can run it on a 200Mhz/64Mb machine!), but I stick with it because it's fast and flexible.

I like Gnome and I respect it for being a fully mature DE, but ... XFCE rocks! :mrgreen: