Xfce
Lightweight open-source desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.
HN commenters like Xfce for being lightweight enough to revive old hardware1234 and for a fast, stable interface that rarely changes.5678 The most common caveat is its limited Wayland support,9101112 which has pushed several longtime users to KDE Plasma.13141516
Why people recommend it
Lightweight · 3
Runs well on old or low-spec machines, including laptops rescued from the landfill.
“Installing Manjaro (Arch), XFCE and kernel 6.18.”
“I use a 2010 Macbook Air with Linux XFCE desktop and it works well for browsing and simple office work.”
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“xfce will always have a place in my heart”
Stability · 3
Commenters value that it stays the same across years and behaves predictably.
“the great thing about XFCE is that it doesn't change, while at the same time being fairly intuitive and discoverable to the tech-unsavvy people.”
“I use and love xfce, for example”
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“Xfce is great generally, pretty easy to backup and share the whole config, ideal collection of apps.”
Snappy response · 3
Users report near-instant UI response with no animations by default.
“Anyway, I LOVE XFCE. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles in my DE, I just need it to launch applications, bind some hotkeys, and otherwise stay out of my way.”
“On Linux I use XFCE which is almost instant - no animations by default.”
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“But I too have ran a super snappy XFCE desktop for ages on pretty old hardware.”
Stays out of the way · 3
Seen as a minimal desktop that launches apps, binds hotkeys and otherwise stays out of the way.
“It gets out of my way, it gets shit done, I love it.”
“Anyway, I LOVE XFCE. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles in my DE, I just need it to launch applications, bind some hotkeys, and otherwise stay out of my way.”
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“This is why I run XFCE with the Chicago95 theme.”
Just works · 3
Reported to work reliably with Nvidia drivers, HiDPI on X11 and everyday apps.
“Basically whenever I use a machine that has an nvidia gpu, I always use xfce, as it just works, has least amount of issues & babysitting nvidia drivers & breakages.”
“I use XFCE, where you can set directly the DPI values of the monitors, so that everything will work fine.”
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“I really do feel like XFCE on x11 is the logical choice, it "just works" and every app runs well”
Theming · 2
Users enjoy retro themes like Chicago95 and Mac OS 7 Platinum.
“This is why I run XFCE with the Chicago95 theme.”
“I have been using a Mac OS 7 Platinum theme on all my XFCE desktops for years”
Caveats and dissent
Wayland support · 3
The lack of mature Wayland support led several users to switch to KDE.
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“It gets out of my way, it gets shit done, I love it.”
Others caught up · 3
Some former users find modern KDE or GNOME now more polished or efficient.
“I used xfce for pretty much my entire life”
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No tiling · 2
The lack of built-in tiling drove some users to other environments.
“xfce will always have a place in my heart”
“This was my first DM, i even put my mother on it on her home laptop.”
Visual inconsistency · 1
Since the move to GTK 3, Thunar and the settings apps look mismatched to one user.
“if you put Thunar and the Xfce system settings next to each other they don't look like they're part of the same project”
Project direction · 1
One user doubts the project can resist GNOME's direction in the long term.
“the resistance showed me the project lacks the backbone to resist GNOME long term”
Not lean enough · 1
One user found it too slow compared with minimal window managers like IceWM.
“XFCE, mate-desktop, KDE and GNOME are too slow or too crap”
Often compared with
4 moved from Xfce to KDE
1 moved from GNOME to Xfce
1 moved from Xfce to GNOME
2 moved from Xfce to KDE Plasma
2 moved from Xfce to i3
1 moved from CDE to XfceWindow Maker1 comment mention both
1 moved from Window Maker to Xfce
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- XFCE Is Great 15 mentions
- Xfwl4 – The Roadmap for a Xfce Wayland Compositor 4 mentions
- Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra 2 mentions
- OpenShell – A safe, private runtime for fleets of autonomous AI agents 1 mention
- Solar surpasses nuclear power globally for first time 1 mention
- Upgrade your desktop: Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is now available 1 mention
Also written as XFCE. Data: xfce.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 42
“added xorg and xfce4”
“I was using OpenBSD w/ xfce”
“I've since moved away from it (and Ubuntu in general), but not XFCE.”
“I used xfce for pretty much my entire life”
“It works great”
“XFCE, Cinnamon and KDE all clear that bar”
“I recommend trying KDE or XFCE instead.”
“I use and love xfce, for example”
“I for one hold out for them releasing an optimized XFCE variant”
“I love XFCE”
“Installing Manjaro (Arch), XFCE and kernel 6.18.”
“But I too have ran a super snappy XFCE desktop for ages on pretty old hardware.”
“I noticed plasmashell is write heavy and logs to journald a lot so I have just switched to XFCE”
“On Linux I use XFCE which is almost instant - no animations by default.”
“For gaming, mediacenter-PC and webradio-miniPC I use Linux Mint with Xfce.”
“I use a 2010 Macbook Air with Linux XFCE desktop and it works well for browsing and simple office work.”
“I use XFCE, where you can set directly the DPI values of the monitors, so that everything will work fine.”
“This is why I run XFCE with the Chicago95 theme.”
“xfce (old favourite of mine for tablet & low spec pc)”
“I use AntiX linux with XFCE.”
“I use xfce, multiple workspaces”
“a prime example of what I love about XFCE”
“I have been using a Mac OS 7 Platinum theme on all my XFCE desktops for years”
“xfce will always have a place in my heart”
“I've been using Xfce as a daily driver in one machine for about a decade now.”
“This stuff works properly on gnome and not on Xfce.”
“the great thing about XFCE is that it doesn't change, while at the same time being fairly intuitive and discoverable to the tech-unsavvy people.”
“if you put Thunar and the Xfce system settings next to each other they don't look like they're part of the same project”
“I used to use XFCE a lot, but since then”
“I used XFCE (MxLinux) for 5 years”
“Xfce is what I settled on, when still using GNU/Linux desktops.”
“I used to love Xfce, when KDE felt clunky to me”
“I'm a longtime fan of XFCE.”
“the resistance showed me the project lacks the backbone to resist GNOME long term”
“It gets out of my way, it gets shit done, I love it.”
“Xfce is great generally, pretty easy to backup and share the whole config, ideal collection of apps.”
“This was my first DM, i even put my mother on it on her home laptop.”
“I really do feel like XFCE on x11 is the logical choice, it "just works" and every app runs well”
“Basically whenever I use a machine that has an nvidia gpu, I always use xfce, as it just works, has least amount of issues & babysitting nvidia drivers & breakages.”
“Xfce is really good, used to have it as a daily driver.”
“Anyway, I LOVE XFCE. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles in my DE, I just need it to launch applications, bind some hotkeys, and otherwise stay out of my way.”
“I use XFCE on the laptop and desktop”