If you have an older PC that struggles to run Ubuntu with GNOME or KDE, or you want to dedicate most of the resources to your applications and not the system, a A lightweight desktop in Ubuntu can make all the difference.The good news is that in GNU/Linux you are not tied to a single environment: you can change desktops, combine window managers, or even start from Ubuntu Server and add only what you need.
In the following lines you will see how Install and configure lightweight desktops on Ubuntu Based on LXDE, LXQt, Xfce, MATE, Razor-Qt, Openbox, and others, along with other graphics options that, while not the most basic, are still quite modest. All of this by relying on official repositories, PPAs, and tools like TaskselAnd with a clear view of RAM consumption, graphics performance, and recommended uses.
Why opt for a lightweight desktop in Ubuntu?
In recent years, most desktops have evolved into very visually appealing environments, with effects, transparencies, and animations, but at the cost of a considerable resource consumptionGNOME or KDE Plasma can offer a spectacular experience, but on older computers they cause everything to run slowly, with stuttering and endless window switching.
One of the great advantages of GNU/Linux is its Total flexibility to choose desktop environmentYou are not obligated to use the desktop environment that comes with your distribution. You can install another one, switch between several on the login screen, or even boot from a system without a graphical interface and add the desktop environment you want later.
In addition, lightweight desktops have another key feature: They reserve much less RAM at startupXfce can use around 110 MB, LXDE around 100 MB (even less on some systems), and other environments like MATE or LXQt are slightly higher, but still far from the resource usage of GNOME, KDE, or Cinnamon. This translates to Greater overall fluidity and more available memory for your applications.
Finally, it should be noted that the graphical interface is the layer between the user and the systemMenus, windows, panels, backgrounds, icons, pre-installed programs… all of that is part of the Linux desktop. Choosing the right environment can make a PC you thought was beyond repair perfectly usable again for everyday use.
Ultralight desktops in Ubuntu: LXDE, LXQt and Xfce
Within the Linux world, when we talk about extreme lightweight performance on modest machines, the names that come up most often are: LXDE, LXQt, and XfceThe first two are close cousins, and the third is the classic reference point when you want a complete desk that consumes little energy without feeling too spartan.
LXDE It's a very simple and fast desktop environment that relies on GTK libraries. Its philosophy is clear: to offer a traditional environment, with a panel, application menu, and windows without too many frills. In return, its memory consumption is very low, and it has even been ported to systems like Android, in addition to being available on virtually any GNU/Linux distribution.
Over time it emerged LXQtwhich you could see as the natural evolution of LXDE towards the Qt libraries. Both projects share a father: Hong Jen Yee started with LXDE and, not being entirely satisfied with GTK, paved the way for LXQt. Although he hasn't officially abandoned LXDE, in practice the community and the developer himself are taking much better care of LXQtto the point that Lubuntu abandoned LXDE and now uses LXQt as its official desktop environment.
As for the XfceIt has earned a well-deserved reputation among users seeking a balance between functionality and lightness. It offers a classic, modern, and easy-to-use desktop environment, with a complete setup and RAM usage at startup that is around [missing information]. 110 MB, with very good graphics performance (Phoronix tests measured up to 180 FPS on desktop). That's why Xubuntu, the official Ubuntu variant with Xfce, is a favorite for rescuing low-resource computers.
Installing the LXDE desktop on Ubuntu
If you want a very simple desktop environment that's responsive and uses minimal memory, install LXDE on Ubuntu It's a straightforward path. You don't need any obscure repositories or PPAs to get started, as everything is in the distribution's official repositories.
The first step, whenever you're going to install a complete desktop environment, is update the list of repositories:
sudo apt update
Afterwards, it's advisable to update the entire system to avoid dependency conflicts, something that can save you a lot of headaches in the long run when you add a new graphical environment:
sudo apt upgrade
With the system updated, you can now install the lightweight LXDE desktop with a single command, which will pull in a good number of packages because it includes the entire graphical environment and its associated tools:
sudo apt install lxde
During installation, you'll see many packages being downloaded. This is completely normal, as a full desktop environment is being added: window manager, panel, utilities, additional libraries, etc. At one point in the process, the system will ask you what login manager If you want to use, usually between gdm, lightdm or others like it; just choose the one you prefer and continue until you finish.
Once the installation is complete, in order to start using LXDE you need to Log out of your current session and log back inOn the login screen, select LXDE in the session selector (the icon is usually near the user box) and you will enter your new lightweight desktop, ready to use in your day-to-day life.
Install Xfce with Xubuntu Desktop
Xfce can be installed piece by piece, but on Ubuntu the easiest way is to pull directly from the metapackage of Ubuntu Desktop, which leaves the system practically as if you had installed Xubuntu from scratch, with its set of applications, libraries and configuration.
Again, the ideal thing to do is to start Updating package indexes so that the system knows which versions are available in the repositories:
sudo apt update
Next, update all installed packages, which is especially recommended if you haven't run `apt upgrade` in a while and are adding an additional desktop environment:
sudo apt upgrade
With the system ready, install Xfce with the full Xubuntu experience using:
sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop
During installation you will be asked again about the session manager which you want to use by default. You can keep the one you have or change to another like lightdm, which is common in lightweight desktops. Once the whole process is finished, you'll just have to Log out and choose Xfce/Xubuntu on the authentication screen to load the new environment.
With Xfce you'll have a very complete desktop, with its panel, application menu, Thunar file manager, and a low resource consumption that makes it one of the best options for older computers where you still want a modern graphical experience.
Install LXQt and take advantage of Lubuntu's Backports
If you're more drawn to the Qt world or simply want to follow the path of what Lubuntu offers today, then this is for you. LXQtAlthough LXDE still exists, the reality is that the project's energy has been poured into LXQt, and most development and packaging efforts are focused there.
Installing it on Ubuntu is quite simple, because Lubuntu is distributed as an official flavor. Start, as before, with the two classic commands to ensure your system is up to date before adding a new desktop environment:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Once you've done that, install the Lubuntu desktop environment, which will bring you LXQt along with its entire ecosystem of applications:
sudo apt install lubuntu-desktop
The installer will ask, just like with the other desktops, what display manager Choose which one you want to use and let the installation complete. When it's finished, log out of your current session and on the login screen select either the LXQt or Lubuntu session; upon entering, you'll see the lightweight environment with its panel, menu, and range of utilities.
Lubuntu, following the path once taken by KDE with Plasma, maintains a Backports repository specifically for LXQtA backport is simply bringing newer versions of software to an older version of Ubuntu without having to wait for the next release cycle. This means you can enjoy a much more recent version of LXQt than what comes in the standard repositories if you want to stay up-to-date.
Enable the LXQt Backports repository
To access the latest versions of LXQt on Ubuntu or Lubuntu, you can Add the Lubuntu Backports PPAwhich is where the team uploads the latest versions of the desktop once they are ready for the general public.
The command to add that repository to your system is as simple as running the following in the terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lubuntu-dev/backports-staging
After adding the PPA, it's advisable to update the package information again and even repeat the LXQt installation steps if you haven't already, or update the existing desktop environment so that Upgrade to the version available in BackportsThis way, when a similar LXQt 1.xo release comes out, you can install it as soon as it appears in the PPA, without having to wait for the next Ubuntu release.
However, it's important to keep in mind that, even if the packages arriving at this type of repository are already in a stable branch, installing the zero-point version of a desktop This always implies accepting that some minor bugs may appear. If you prefer absolute stability, you might want to stick with the version that comes with your Ubuntu and wait for the next six-month update cycle to upgrade the entire system to the new desktop environment.
Other lightweight and semi-lightweight desktops: MATE, Razor-Qt and others
Although LXDE, LXQt, and Xfce are the names that come up most often when we talk about minimal consumption, they are not the only alternatives for building a lightweight but functional desktop in UbuntuThere are other options that, while not as extreme in resource saving, are still much lighter than full GNOME or KDE.
An interesting case is MATEMATE, which was born as a continuation of GNOME 2 for those who were not comfortable with the radical change to GNOME 3, maintains a classic interface, with panels and menus in the style of traditional desktops, and has been ported to a lot of distributions, including Ubuntu MATE as an official flavor.
At the most exotic extreme appears Razor-QtIt's a Qt-based environment that was once considered a lightweight alternative desktop. There's no official Ubuntu branch dedicated to it, and based on testing, it ends up being... heavier than the other lightweight environmentsIt consumes around 250 MB of RAM at startup. On the plus side, many users highlight its excellent performance on less powerful machines and its aesthetics, which are quite reminiscent of a simplified KDE Plasma.
If you want to add Razor-Qt to your Ubuntu, you can do so by using the packages that are still in the repositories, through the classic combination of index update and subsequent desktop installation:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install razorqt-session
Despite being less well-known and requiring slightly more memory than LXDE or Xfce, it still falls within the category of Lightweight and simple interfaces for Ubuntuwith a basic taskbar, clear menus, and very agile behavior on simple computers.
Building an ultralight desktop with Openbox, Tint2, and Conky
If you want to go a step further and get the most out of the hardware, you can build a A customized desktop environment combining Openbox with ultralight toolsOpenbox isn't a full desktop environment. It's more of a very fast window manager that you can customize with panels, launchers, and system monitors to your liking.
A typical configuration, perfect for Virtual machinesFor computers with very little memory or users who want almost all resources to go to production applications, it consists of using Openbox + Tint2 + gmrun + Conky, supported by utilities such as hsetroot for the wallpaper and obconf/obmenu for configuration and menus.
To install all the necessary packages from the official Ubuntu repositories (without additional PPAs), simply run the following command in the terminal:
sudo apt-get install openbox obconf obmenu gmrun conky hsetroot tint2
In this combination, Openbox acts as the window manager, obconf allows you to adjust its configuration graphically, and obmenu is used to edit the menu that appears when you right-click. Meanwhile, gmrun acts as an application launcherConky displays system information very lightly on the desktop, hsetroot handles the wallpaper, and Tint2 provides a minimalist taskbar with a notification area.
Furthermore, for easy access to all installed applications, it's useful to create a program index that Openbox can use as a standard Debian menu. This is done by creating a symbolic link from the global menu file to the user's configuration directory:
ln -s /var/lib/openbox/debian-menu.xml ~/.config/openbox/debian-menu.xml
Fine-tuning this desktop requires editing a few text files. Once you have everything to your liking, simply log out and, on the home screen, select the Openbox session to enjoy a desktop so clean it almost seems like nothing is running in the background.
Use Tasksel to add lightweight desktops to Ubuntu Server
Another very common situation is to start from a Ubuntu Server without a graphical interface And later on, you might decide that you want to add a desktop because the server will also be used locally, or because you're learning and feel more comfortable with a visual environment.
In these cases, the Tasksel tool can save you a lot of work. Tasksel is a small text-based assistant that allows you to install predefined package groups, such as complete desktops, mail servers, LAMP servers, etc., with a very easy-to-use menu.
To launch it, simply run the following command in the server terminal, which will open the task selection menu:
sudo tasksel
You'll see a list with various roles and graphical environments. Within the desktop section, you'll find options such as Ubuntu desktop (GNOME), Kubuntu, Lubuntu, MATE, Xubuntu, Budgie And others, some even in minimal and full versions. You just have to check the box for the desktop you want, for example Ubuntu Budgie desktop, if you're looking for a nice balance between simple aesthetics and moderate resource consumption.
Once you have selected the option, press the TAB key to select the OK button and confirm. Tasksel will take care of it. automatically download and install all necessary packagesWhen it finishes, you will return to the console prompt and you can restart to enter the graphical environment with:
sudo reboot
When you restart your computer, the graphical authentication screen will appear. After logging in, you'll find your new lightweight or semi-lightweight desktop running on top of a system that was previously console-only, without needing to reinstall from scratch.
Other desktop environments to consider in Ubuntu
Although we're focusing on lightweight desktops here, it's worth knowing the rest of the landscape, because Not all teams need maximum austerity.Sometimes it's worth sacrificing a little RAM in exchange for a more complete or visually appealing interface.
GNOME It is one of the most popular desktop environments and the one Ubuntu uses by default. It is very simple to use, yet powerful and highly extensible thanks to its ExtensionsIt can be installed using Tasksel by selecting Ubuntu desktop or via apt using the appropriate group. The downside is that it consumes a significant amount of resources and is not the best option for very old computers.
On the other side is KDE Plasmawhich combines a modern and highly configurable appearance with good optimization that makes it lighter than many people believe, although it remains heavier than LXDE or XfceIt is easily installed on Ubuntu with:
sudo apt install -y kubuntu-desktop
Other desks that strike a balance between lightness and functionality are Cinnamon (focused on customization and popular on Linux Mint), which you can install with:
sudo apt-get install cinnamon
o BudgieA simple and elegant environment that originated in the Solus project, and which is installed on Ubuntu with:
sudo apt install budgie-desktop
For those who feel nostalgic for older versions of Ubuntu, it is still possible to set up sessions with Unity through:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-unity-desktop
And if you like the macOS style, you can always go for Pantheon, the elementaryOS desktop environment, available for Ubuntu via:
sudo apt-get install elementary-desktop
Although these latter ones are not as frugal as LXDE or LXQt, they offer a very comfortable experience on machines with a bit more memory, without reaching the excessive consumption of other very overloaded environments.
More lightweight options: LXDE, LXQt, Enlightenment and others
When you're looking to squeeze every last megabyte of RAM out of your system, one of the top contenders remains... LXDEThis desktop environment consumes very little memory compared to the most popular environments, adapts very well to older computers where Windows barely runs, and has a design quite similar to that of classic WindowsThis makes the transition easier for users new to Linux.
Although Lubuntu uses LXQt today, it was based on LXDE for a long time, resulting in a very mature and compatible ecosystem. Its package in Ubuntu allows you to continue enjoying it on machines with limited hardware. As an alternative, many recommend LXQt when you're looking for something just as fast but a bit more modern in terms of libraries.
Another interesting minimalist environment is EnlightenmentIt is also designed for teams with limited resources. It stands out for its high customization capabilitiesThis includes the ability to automatically run scripts or applications at system startup or shutdown to further refine the experience. To use Enlightenment on Ubuntu, you must first add the appropriate PPA:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa: hannes-janetzek / enlightenment-svn
Then it updates the package list so that the system is aware of what that new repository offers:
sudo apt-get update
And finally, install the desktop environment itself by running:
sudo apt-get install e17
Taken together, LXDE, LXQt, Xfce, MATE, and Enlightenment offer a very interesting range of options when the priority is the desktop. don't be the bottleneckIt's about choosing the exact balance between aesthetics, functionality, and energy consumption that best suits your team and your way of working.
