Intuitive, minimalist interface for Linux?
I just started using Linux a few days ago, and I am trying to set it up in a form that I like. What I am looking for is an interface that is intuitive to use and stylistically simple/ minimalistic. (I am ok with fancy graphics if they are useful, but "eye-candy" --which, I assume by definition, is just there to look pretty-- does not interest me.) I am somewhat overwhelmed by, and lost in, the wide array of choices available to me.
Currently, I am using SimplyMEPIS 6.5 with KDE. I have altered the themes and other settings, so my current set-up looks better (to me) than the defaults. I am still not satisfied, and I would like to modify things further, but I am not sure if it is simply a matter of adjusting the theme/ style, switching to a different window manager (e.g., IceWM or Fluxbox), switching to a different graphical display (e.g., GNOME), completely changing distributions (e.g., Ubuntu), or some combination of these.
My previous computer was a Powerbook G3, running MacOS 9. Part of the reason I never upgraded to OS X was because I did not like the look of it --bright translucent colors, big bouncing icons/ graphics, etc. Similarly, at my former job I was given a Dell computer running Windows XP. One of the first things I did was switch the appearance settings to "Windows Classic". With both computers, I almost always viewed the folders using some sort of list format, not the icons. (I have found themes/ styles designed to look like Windows XP and MacOS X on http://kde-look.org/ and http://themes.freshmeat.net/ , but they are not what I am looking for.)
My apologies if my description is too vague. It is difficult for me to put into words what I want. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
UncleBeer
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Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Age: 64
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Location: temporarily trapped in Holland
fluxbox is great...
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I installed Ubuntu (with GNOME) last night --thankfully, a painless process-- and after a few, quick changes to the colours and themes, I like it a lot better than SimplyMEPIS with KDE. (I'm not sure if I should attribute that to Ubuntu or GNOME, or both.) I may try Fluxbox later.
When I started investigating Linux several months ago, I read a couple of articles which gave glowing reviews to SimplyMEPIS, but were much less enthused about Ubuntu. To each his own, I guess...