Software Alternatives & Reviews

MATE VS LXDE

Compare MATE VS LXDE and see what are their differences

MATE logo 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.

LXDE logo 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?
  • MATE Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-03-06
  • LXDE Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-20

MATE videos

Mate Endurance PE Treatment - Two Month Review

More videos:

  • Review - Yerba Mate Review- The Next Drink Craze?
  • Review - Ubuntu MATE 20.04 Review: MATE Has Never Been This Better

LXDE videos

Desktop December - LXDE Review

More videos:

  • Review - Lubuntu 18.04 LTS Review - Perhaps the last with LXDE

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to MATE and LXDE)
Linux
30 30%
70% 70
Desktop Environments
37 37%
63% 63
Operating Systems
36 36%
64% 64
Window Manager
12 12%
88% 88

User comments

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

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

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.
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

LXDE Reviews

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023
Another elegant and portable desktop environment is LXDE. LXDE stands for Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment. It uses minimal RAM compared to other desktop environments since it uses so few resources. LXDE is better suited to cloud workstations with older specifications, such as netbooks or outdated hardware.
Source: geekflare.com
Top 10 Best Desktop Environments in 2020
Lightweight and Low-resource can be considered the same, but in this case, there’s a difference. XFCE is a lightweight desktop environment even with a whole lot of built-in customizations and UI perks. LXDE, on the other hand, is a DE that is built to be as low-resource as possible. You certainly can add animations, but they need to be downloaded separately.
The 12 Best Linux Desktop Environments
LXDE is a user-friendly, energy-efficient, and lightweight Linux desktop environment. It is based on the GTK+, so LXDE can be a good alternative to Xfce if it runs slower on your system. It proves that LXDE is supported for all distros. Therefore it can be supported on older machines too.
Source: linuxhint.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, LXDE seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time 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.

LXDE mentions (1)

  • Touchpad Settings on Qtile with GUI App
    That said, you can look into lxinput https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Openbox#GUI_configuration https://lxde.org or... I don't know if kde-config-touchpad is still valid. Source: over 1 year ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing MATE and LXDE, 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.

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

LXQt - The LXQt team is proud to announce the release of qtermwidget and qterminal, both in version 0. 8. 0. Read more..

KDE Plasma Desktop - Plasma Workspaces is the umbrella term for all graphical environments provided by KDE.

KDE - The KDE® Community is a free software community dedicated to creating an open and user-friendly computing experience, offering an advanced graphical desktop, a wide variety of applications for communication, work, education and entertainment and …

i3 - A dynamic tiling window manager designed for X11, inspired by wmii, and written in C.