Linux problems and their cure

The main Linux desktops, KDE and Unity, seem to be getting heavier as time passes, with more and more added features.

For a basic desktop or laptop, Cinnamon, LXDE and XFCE seem to be good enough, and make no demands on the hardware. My main setup is a bit more complex, as I have two screens and need to use different keyboard layouts at times. Unity and KDE handle this well enough but seem sluggish even on an i5 with 16G RAM.

XFCE was troublesome and then proved difficult to remove completely. However, it worked nicely on an elderly PC with a core 2 and just 2G RAM. LXDE had issues with the keyboard layouts and wallpapers on two screens. Cinnamon seems to do the job without difficulty. It looks clean on the screen and runs fast.

In future I shall probably install Cinnamon or Lubuntu (LXDE) to get a further few years' use from the old PCs that are available for nothing but are still good for a while. XFCE is a bit Mac-like and might suit people who are used to that style of screen layout.

Whatever the case, unless the software demands it, there is no real need to use Windows, Macs or new computers of any kind for ordinary household use.