Linux

I use lxqt mostly beacause it's simple and moderately lightweight.

XFCE + xmonad

I use KDE for desktops/workstations and Gnome where I want more of a 10ft interface...like HTPC, or if I have a touchscreen device.

I used Gnome on my desktop and it was great! But after a while I just wanted to try something else, so I switched to KDE on my desktop and laptop which is also great. I technically have both installed but I mainly just use KDE plasma. I also recently switched to Wayland. For me at least both are equally good buy in different ways.

If you're new, IMHO you should be looking at the distro as a whole, not the DE specifically. Yeah, if you find one you mostly like but want to try other similar distros, it's probably a good thing to stay with the same DE. However, it's not something to get hung up on as distros often tweak the DE.

And to answer your question, Cinnamon. After years of distro-hopping, I've spent most of the past decade on Linux Mint.

Both KDE and GNOME are good DEs (and there are many other great ones, and you don't even need to use a DE; a mismash of applications with your compositor of choice works just aswell - but I digress), you can't really go wrong with either.

For someone new to Linux, I would likely recommend GNOME, because it is more opinionated. While KDE is a lot more configurable, that also has a huge downside: configuration fatigue. GNOME is more restrictive, yes, but that has the advantage of not overwhelming you right out of the box.

If you like and wish to tinker, though, go with KDE. If you want to gently ease into Linux, go with GNOME first, and once you're comfortable, you can still experiment with KDE. You can install both, and switch between them simply by logging out of one and into the other.

Check Bodhi Linux's Moksha Desktop. Pretty lightweight and does work

@[email protected] KDE is more customizable and supports more things where as Gnome tries to keep things simple and cohesive in its theme. Ex: Gnome currently has some issues with supporting things like VR but that should be fixed soon. Both work well and have the option of including a suite of useful "default" apps (with KDE pushing the bounds of default). Comes down to what you like. FWIW I use KDE.

You are used to KDE and Gnome is very different But also KDE is buggy, I dont know how Steamdeck people make it better. If you chose Xfce, you will get a KDE similar desktop but more robust. Xfce can look modern with few efforts. MX Linux distro is a good example of a nice Xfce config.

neither. i think i have cinnamon now on everything except the old junk that has peppermint (its xfce there) or is a console-only box or vm.

Any tips for 4k gaming on Plasma?

If i force system scaling, everthing looks great but games dont get to use the full 4k. If i go with app scaling the games look fine but some apps are blurry.

I figured out a halfway solution where i use no scaling and just made the fonts bigger, but some ui elements are still tiny, and steam doesn't scale at all.

Is there a way to disable system scaling for just selected applications?