Easy way to try out a bunch of different DEs?

I’m planning on moving (back) to Linux from Windows, but I’m not sure which desktop environment I want to use. What’s the easiest way to try them all out? Just do a bunch of dnf/apt installs? Is there a distro or project out there that makes this easier?

Looking to try out kde, gnome, budgie, cinnamon, xfce, others

Aradia,
@Aradia@lemmy.ml avatar

Well, if you are new to Linux, it is better if you just install new distros to try them, I would go to Arch Linux as it’s the cleanest distro, I could install multiple DE without issues, but then it’s a bit mess of packages, also it’s harder to install, you need to type archinstall and understand their options. I have a desktop and laptop and I always use the laptop for testing, if you copy the ~/.config folder, you can restore all your applications settings (just copy the app settings you are using), ~/.mozilla to restore your browser as you had it before the wipe and some more settings are under ~/.local. I also copy my ~/.zshrc because I have a custom prompt, configs, add-ons, alias…

Drito,

You can use live isos. Some distros, such as Manjaro or Fedora spins, has several isos, one per DE.

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Maybe it will be best to give up right now and use GNOME. I hate it, but let’s be honest most of the time people are running KDE and others will end up with a bunch of GNOME/GTK/libadwaita components and creating a Frankenstein of a system because some specific App depends on said components.

There’s no point on running anything else if you’ll end up with parts of GNOME and inconsistencies all over the place.

drndramrndra,

Arco B was how I experimented with DEs and WMs. It’s got the widest support from the installer, but it’s mostly limited to having unified shortcuts.

I suggest using a VM or an install specifically for that purpose, just so you don’t have to clean everything up afterwards.

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