glans [it/its]

Install TLDR pages from your package manager to get easy access to the most useful information

https://tldr.sh/

there are a lot of strong feelings about gnome but i have never taken the time to find out what or why

mint

• generally a solid choice

• you have a friend who uses it! big advantage

people who make memes about linux distros are in a lot deeper than you want to be. they have different goals.

I wonder if you’d be more interested in one of the other Linux Mint flavors: Cinnamon or MATE. here is screenshots of all 3 to compare: https://www.linuxmint.com/screenshots.php

KDE doesn’t come pre-loaded but you can install any DE on any distro. Here are KDE screenshots: https://kde.org/screenshots

Anyway have fun and good luck :)

will it go faster than xubuntu?

well IME when you reinstall it will usually go faster at first no matter what because you don’t have a lot of crap running to slow it down. but idk if it’ll go inherently faster.

because it doesn’t use any snap applications?

It’s been a while since I used xubuntu but are you required to use Snaps? Someone might correct me but it seems like you could just refrain from using them, no? I’ve never used snaps anywhere.

I believe on both xubuntu and Mint you can install software via Synaptic package manager.

will it have a modern ui?

it has XFCE4 as the desktop environment. Xubuntu also runs XFCE4 (that’s what the “x” stands for). They will have essentially the same UI. Any differences will just be in the theming, which you could just change the themes yourself without going to the trouble of reinstalling.

I personally like the retro feel of XFCE4. If you want something more “modern” you might like to try KDE. You can install that with Synaptic package manager on either xubuntu or Mint.

what will be the pros be for using linux mint xfce please?? over xubuntu

From my understanding, Mint is a bit better on the Libre side of things and is less likely to introduce proprietary stuff into your system.

My feeling is that they are substantially the same as each other.

Always make backups before making any major changes. :)