I am very happy and content with Zorin and Mint's LMDE. If I liked Xfce, I think I would prefer Mint's Xfce or Linux Lite. MX Linux Xfce is solid too but I like that Mint has an upgrade path. So many choices! I am looking forward in the next few months to see what System76 does with their COSMIC desktop using Rust when the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS gets release in April. I am still a fan of their current version of COSMIC and what they are doing looks promising.
So nice to have Zorin, I have run many distros in the past years, including MX, mint, fedora, ubuntu, xubuntu, lubundu, Bodhi... Zorin is the best for me on T410 and VM, perfer xfce because of the low profile.
- perfect set of software installed/configured, no more no less, simple install and done
- least bugs, some distro with bugs existing for years and no fix, but Zorin is fine
- least resource used with modern design, perfect balanced.
Cant wait for 17 Lite release.
For now, I just installed Zorin 17 Core on 14 yo T410 i5 build in video card 8G ram, feel smooth.
For sure Zorin is solid. I used to use Solus on an old Toshiba Satellite laptop using MATE primarily but also using KDE. Solus has improved after some problems for a few years. They just released a Beta version of Xfce which surprised me-it looks fantastic and seems exceptionally fast from my observation. I may consider trying out their KDE or GNOME versions and using it again as a daily driver. But, the nice part of Zorin is you know it will work just like Mint and that sense of confidence in your distribution of choice is priceless.
IMO nothing beats the balance of XFCE on old hardware.
The only thing that comes close is KDE.
Sure there's is LXQt (LXDE is basically old) but XFCE brings more to the table and it's the same across all distros.
It's my go to DE and I don't have to think about it.
For more current, you can use LXDE-GTK3 which I actually liked, but prefer XFCE to and it's pretty equal with Mate.
Isn't LXQt suppose to replace LXDE?
No, LXQT is a variant of LXDE using the Qt / KDE environment instead of the GTK environment.
Any info on when Zorin 17 Lite is coming out?
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Hello:
Considering the time they took to release Zorin Os Lite 16, they should release it during April or May 2024, but this is pure speculation.
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If you are in a hurry for Zorin Lite which is based on Xfce, Linux Mint’s Xfce is a good alternative. Or Linux Lite or MX Linux. Solus recently came out with a good version of Xfce too in beta. Despite my being a fan of Solus from the past, they have had issues so I am still on the sidelines. But I might be willing to install their Xfce version soon just to try it out again.
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Any news on 17 Lite? My desktop struggles with core.
Use 16.3 Lite since it may be a while. You will still have some of the newer software that is back-ported by Zorin and you have Flatpaks and Snaps for other software. Then when ZOS 17 Lite comes out and after the upgrade too comes out, you can upgrade. Or you can do a fresh installation. Up to you.
I can't give you an answer as to when ZOS 17 Lite will come out but it seems it will take from a few weeks to a few months. That is why I say just install the 16.3 Lite version which is still very much current and supported. Xfce has not changed much so I can't see big changes in ZOS 17 Lite but I am sure there will be all the special sauce that Zorin puts into their distributions.
I have mentioned other similar distributions ranging from antiX to MX Linux to Linux Mint Xfce to Linux Lite. I have read a lot of Bodhi Linux being very light on resources but have never used it.
Good luck!
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So I just spent an hour setting up 16.3 Lite. Much more snappier on my banana of an old machine. Hope 17 Lite is released soon and it is just as good as 16. 
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Basically i found this link Getting Zorin OS Lite - Zorin Help
and I see the work of zorin 17.1 lite has started and you cab download the system from this link but i don't think that it is stable, but you can test it by yourself.
Some people talking new KDE is better from XFCE4.
I have been using Q4OS (Debian) with KDE 5.27 and it is great. I have also used Ultramarine (Fedora) KDE 39 with Plasma 5.27 and now Fedora 40 with Plasma 6 and it is about the same with some nice refinement. KDE Plasma 6 is good but so was 5.27 so the difference is not that much. It has taken me several years to get used to KDE and appreciate it. It is not complicated but it is overwhelming/confusing when you first use it. I guess that is why I have always preferred Cinnamon the most because it is somewhat like KDE but more intuitive.
Yes. I still reading people have tearing or some problems with Wayland and nvidia gpu in KDE.
Some people preffer Gnome because the qt is more problematic.
On system resources I think XFCE is better than KDE.
Is it still relevant in the modern age when all the people are just using modern and desktops and UI? I mean, just take a look at Win11, MacOS, Gnome, KDE..
The UI you mentioned are inferior and suffer from having too much clutter and too many options. People use XFCE because it's simple and fast. There also exists different skill levels and ways people use their OS for example getting things done through console, scripts, customization's etc.
I have tried the other DM, And IMO XFCE does the job. It does the job, I can simply customize it to suit my tastes. XFCE doesn't give you add short of things you don't need, which in turn becomes bloat. I will use XFCE till my eyes don't work anymore, then I'll need a hole different interface. I'm sure I have answered this question before, but my answer is and will be the same, XFCE will be relevant as long as there are a mouse and a display. Why would you think it wouldn't be, for as long as there is a choice there will always someone who will choose it.
So the people talking XFCE is better from GNOME and KDE.
In linux world I saw people hype doing on Gnome and KDE.
People choice Gnome because GUI is near a macos.
KDE have problem with qt.
The simple answear is many people using android mobile but all ppl sayed iOS is awesome.
Linus Torvalds sayed the linux must be simple with simple GUI propably he means DE.
For me simple DE is Cinnamon and XFCE.
Gnome and KDE want be the same like windows.