MATE VS i3

MATE

The MATE Desktop Environment is the continuation of GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

i3

A dynamic tiling window manager designed for X11, inspired by wmii, and written in C.

Landing page //
2021-03-06

Landing page //
2021-09-19

Mate Endurance PE Treatment - Two Month Review

i3 videos

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30k Miles with the BMW i3 - End of Lease Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to MATE and i3)

i3

Linux

16 16%

Linux

84% 84

Window Manager

2 2%

Window Manager

98% 98

Desktop Environments

100 100%

Desktop Environments

0% 0

Operating Systems

100 100%

Operating Systems

0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using MATE and i3. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare MATE and i3

MATE Reviews

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023

MATE is actively being developed in order to enable new technologies while maintaining a conventional desktop experience. Ubuntu MATE features low system requirements, making it appropriate for current workstations, single-board PCs, and older systems. The MATE desktop environment improves the performance & appearance of your machine.

Source: geekflare.com

The 8 Best Ubuntu Desktop Environments (22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux)

Development of Mate was started by Arch Linux as a fork and continuation of GNOME 2 in response to the negative reception of GNOME 3. Therefore, this desktop is the first choice for many users that liked GNOME 2.

Source: linuxconfig.org

Top 10 Best Desktop Environments in 2020

MATE was created as a response to the drop in user experience when Gnome 3.x was launched. Being a fork, it’s very similar to Gnome’s predecessor and adds more features along with additional community support. This desktop environment caught attention when Linux Mint used MATE instead of Gnome 3 for its user interface.

Source: www.journaldev.com

The 12 Best Linux Desktop Environments

The story behind Mate’s creation is that when the Gnome community decided to move forward from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3, then many developers of Gnome decided to use Gnome 2 existing codes and created Mate. Therefore Mate does not have different extensions like Gnome 3, but it is easy to use, faster and customizable. Developers of Mate have invested a good effort and time to...

Source: linuxhint.com

The Best Desktop Environments For Linux (We Tested Them So That You Don’t Have To)

Ubuntu MATE is one of the official flavors of Ubuntu that utilizes the MATE desktop. Some other popular Linux distributions like Linux Mint, Manjaro, etc, also offer MATE editions of their distributions.

Source: itsfoss.com

i3 Reviews

Top 13 Best Tiling Window Managers For Linux In 2022

Sway is a tiling Wayland i3-compatible window manager that dynamically arranges app windows to rationally maximise desktop space. It is free, open-source, and lightweight. By default, it arranges windows in a grid and supports practically all of the i3 commands.

Source: www.hubtech.org

Top 10 Best Desktop Environments in 2020

i3-wm is one of my most loved standalone window managers, qualifying it to easily fit under the desktop environment list! The configuration is just very easy, and you can change everything that you see on screen. This includes what information you see on the bottom panel, how windows behave, and keyboard shortcuts to move, align, and set up windows on the screen.

Source: www.journaldev.com

13 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux

Sway is a free, open-source, and lightweight tiling Wayland i3-compatible window manager that automatically arranges app windows to logically maximize desktop space. It arranges windows into a grid by default and supports almost all the commands included in i3.

Source: www.tecmint.com

5 Great Tiling Window Managers for Linux

I begun testing i3 just this week. I was always fascinated by the Tiling WM’s as they seem really light on system resources and functional. To my surprise , although i3 is really easy to customize, and works really well (at least for my needs) , I found that it isn’t really that lightweight. I had Mate desktop environment use the same amount of RAM. Maybe I was mislead to...

Source: www.maketecheasier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, i3 seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 89 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

MATE mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of MATE yet. Tracking of MATE recommendations started around Mar 2021.

i3 mentions (89)

"We understand" ;)
This is partially why I use tools like i3 (/ sway). I like the tool; it works extremely well for me; the design has stayed the same for 20 years; there's no profit motive to come along and fuck everything up. It just works. It is boring in the best way possible. Source: 5 months ago
what machines have you used for development, and what do you prefer?
I use MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid-2014) with Manjaro as OS using i3 as a window manager. It isn't perfect, but I'm thrilled with it. I have been a Mac OS user for the last 15 years and wouldn't change what I have now for a Mac OS because I don't need more than what I'm using for development. Source: 10 months ago
Machine for pentesting and general use?
For daily usage I really like kubuntu with i3wm, but it takes some configuration and getting used to the shortcuts, but it's well worth it. Source: 12 months ago
What's the difference between Gnome and KDE? Do applications written for one work in the other?
Some window managers are meant to be used as-is, and provide a minimalist yet functional environment that use very little resources or give power users an almost HUD-like interface. Examples of those window managers are OpenBox and i3wm for X, and Weston and Hyprland for Wayland. Source: 12 months ago
tiling window manager
I did use i3 exclusively for a few years. The reasons I chose it were. Source: 12 months ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing MATE and i3, you can also consider the following products

Xfce - Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

dwm - dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the environment for the application in use and the task performed.

GNOME - An easy and elegant way to use your computer, GNOME is designed to put you in control and get things done.

awesome - A dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed in the C and Lua programming languages.

LXDE - Why will you like it? Less resource needs. You can use it on your less-pricey embedded board or salvaged computer. Component-based design. Don't want something in LXDE, or you don't want to use LXDE but only part of it?

bspwm - A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning