Because of the new Announcement that Zorin Lite will be not maintain anymore after Zorin 18, I thought we could collect some Suggestions and Idea's for Alternative's for User's who want to use the xfce Desktop or must use it because of low Spec Systems.
Until Zorin Lite ends You have 5 Years (from now April, 2024). A User here told me that it isn't as much Time as it might sound. So, maybe we can help with Suggestions for other xfce Distro's so that the Users can find easier a Distro that suits well.
Okay, now I will begin with some Distro's:
Debian (Live) xfce
Linux Mint xfce
MX Linux
Xubuntu
Fedora xfce
Distributions that offer XFCE exclusively are more likely to provide a better out of the box experience, which is paramount, especially to those new to Linux.
I really like Debian, but the desktop environments they provide are as spartan as they get. No customization, no theming at all. I personally don't see this as a bad thing but I wouldn't recommend XFCE out of the box to someone who is getting into Linux for the first time. It's just not nice to look at.
Linux Lite or MX Linux are good candidates that I've personally tried and like.
It has a setting for automatically changing backgrounds and most of them are really beautiful. You can also customize the screen with several options. As you can see I have a lot of programs pinned to my taskbar. And it does use XFCE exclusively. They dropped Gnome from their options. But it is probably not for new Linux users. Tony the developer has started a reddit blog for feedback and posting so that might be a help in the future.
i think in linux mint xfce and mx-linux, but the important thing for me is that : they support old hardware as zorin does or not?
zorin lite has not been died until now, we have new version ,but i don't know why no one review it, it's free of bugs, it's very stable, or it is urgent, sloppy work?
Yes, I'm not a great Fan of the Way how Debian delivers Desktops. I know that from Gnome. I only named it as a Possibility so People know that it exist and maybe try it and take a Look at it.
If I remember right MX Linux uses the 6.1 LTS Kernel. And Linux Mint xfce uses the Kernels from Ubuntu too I guess. So, it should support older or low Spec Stuff I would think.
MX Linux still has versions available for 32-bit machines, so it's safe to bet it does support old hardware.
As for Zorin OS Lite, well, not much has changed with XFCE since the previous release of Zorin OS. So presumably it continues to be stable and resource efficient just like it was last time. But to be honest, the launch was almost as if the developers are ashamed of their own product. Aravisian mentioned that it wouldn't even boot properly so...
It balked at my Nvidia graphics. Zorin OS 16 Lite had no issues with it. This is not an uncommon issue and others have experienced it on other editions and distros - but it caught me off guard that Zorin OS would do it on Nvidia 3060 given the kernel version and available drivers.
I had not tested this prior to the announcement since both came together and this was the first time that the ZorinGroup officially released an edition without having the moderators beta test the product first. It just kind of dropped into our laps suddenly with no indication it was coming as there had been previously. I do not know who did the beta testing on 17.1 Lite.
This undoubtedly influenced my perceptions. At that point, any issue would be magnified simply because I had been handed a corpse without warning. All the life had been sucked out of the experience.
Linux Mint Debian Edition (best benefit is the upgrade tool allowing for an effortless upgrade experience to the next Debian release) By default it comes with Cinnamon desktop but you can install any desktop using tasksel on the terminal. I have mine installed with KDE and MATE in-addition to Cinnamon.
Linux Mint with Xfce, MATE or Cinnamon desktops (uses Ubuntu base)
MX Linux Xfce (Debian base with Flatpaks)
Linux Lite (Ubuntu base) One of the best looking Xfce desktops.
As I posted earlier I was using Asmi, formerly Zinc. But after a month of dealing with various problems I gave up on it. I started distro hoping again looking for a stable distro. I had previously tried MX linux xfce version. I found some problems with it. It didn't want to make some programs my default programs and I could never get it to start the xscreensaver consistantly. One of the admins on their forum told me they were working on the problem of the xfce version not allowing some programs to be set as default. So I tried MX linux KDE version and so far after a week and a half of use I have not found anything that didn't work just like it was supposed to. I really like the way Asmi implemented xfce but I couldn't depend on it for reliable use. So I guess I will be using MX KDE for my main desktop. I still use Z17 for my laptop because I only use it for email and internet browsing and sometimes simple games.
I mentioned it before, Mint’s Xfce (Ubuntu base) is really good from what some people claim. I used it for a short while many years ago. It was good but I like Cinnamon better. Also, Linux Lite (Ubuntu base) is very nice looking and has a following.
Solus is on the comeback and their Budgie desktop looks great. Also, Solus now has an Xfce desktop that I tried almost 2 months ago which was in Beta. It was smooth and looked nice. Not being an Xfce person, I was impressed. Solus has had issues but it was really solid several years ago and seems to be reliable again. Solus is a great rolling release dedicated to home users mostly.
Finally, Xubuntu has always been a stable distribution and the newest 24.04 LTS just got released a few days ago.
