If you prefer your desktop operating system to be prettier than the average bear, then Linux is where it’s at.
If you want a beautiful desktop, Linux has you covered.
These five distributions are either gorgeous or sugary cute.
You’ll find KDE Plasma, COSMIC, and Hyprland represented.
This topic always seems to come back around — with good reason. Linux offers some of the most beautiful desktops on the market. I realize that aesthetics isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but for those who do appreciate a beautiful desktop environment, Linux is filled with them.
Now, before I continue, I want to bring up a tangent, one that often appears in discussions about the best-looking Linux distribution: ricing. Ricing is the practice of configuring any Linux desktop to look exactly how you want it. Nearly every Linux desktop environment can be riced, which means you spend the time and turn that boring desktop into something magical.
What that says is two things: the sky’s the limit, and you don’t have to use one of the listed distributions to wind up with a gorgeous desktop.
However, if you don’t want to spend countless hours modifying your desktop, one of these distributions will impress you, your friends, your family, and just about anyone who glances at your display.
With that said, let’s get to the distributions.1. KDE Neon
KDE Neon is the flagship Plasma distribution, and it presents the desktop in gorgeous fashion. Neon’s take on KDE Plasma is clean and elegant, and it only takes a few liberties with the desktop. Every time I log into KDE Neon, I’m reminded that sometimes a desktop environment doesn’t always need a ton of tweaks to be beautiful.
KDE Neon presents one of the most flexible desktop environments, without distorting its essence. You know this is KDE Plasma, and you’ll feel like nothing needs to be changed. To me, that is the mark of true elegance, and if any DE embodies elegance, it’s KDE Plasma.
