--- title: I switched Ubuntu's desktop to Cinnamon for speed, but... description: A user recounts switching Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop environment to Cinnamon to improve performance on aging hardware, finding that while Cinnamon offers... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I switched Ubuntu's desktop to Cinnamon for speed, but the real upgrade was how I work | daily.dev og:description: A user recounts switching Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop environment to Cinnamon to improve performance on aging hardware, finding that while Cinnamon offers... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/eAuolOxj2.png og:image:alt: I switched Ubuntu's desktop to Cinnamon for speed, but the real upgrade was how I work og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I switched Ubuntu's desktop to Cinnamon for speed, but the real upgrade was how I work **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A user recounts switching Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop environment to Cinnamon to improve performance on aging hardware, finding that while Cinnamon offers modest speed gains, the bigger benefit is a more familiar, Windows-like workflow with faster access to settings and app launching. The piece also discusses lighter alternatives like Xfce and LXQT, and argues that switching to a lighter distro like Linux Mint (Cinnamon's native platform) yields the best performance gains, though at the cost of a full reinstall. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much RAM does Ubuntu require to run the GNOME desktop smoothly? Ubuntu now requires at least 6GB of RAM to run its default GNOME desktop environment. On an 8-year-old laptop with 16GB of RAM, GNOME still feels like it could be smoother, though it remains usable rather than broken. _Anyone weighing desktop environment tradeoffs on aging hardware can compare notes like this on daily.dev._ ### Is Cinnamon a lighter desktop environment than GNOME on Ubuntu? Cinnamon is lighter than GNOME but not dramatically so. For bigger resource savings on constrained hardware, lighter alternatives like Xfce or LXQT reduce resource usage further, though they trade away modern conveniences like a Meta-key app launcher and a more polished UI. _Developers picking a desktop environment for old hardware can track comparisons like this on daily.dev._ ### Why is Linux Mint recommended over installing Cinnamon on Ubuntu directly? Linux Mint is built specifically for the Cinnamon desktop, shipping matching apps and services for better performance than installing Cinnamon on top of Ubuntu, which can leave leftover GNOME services and apps behind. Mint is loosely based on Ubuntu but is a notably lighter overall platform. _Those deciding between distro swaps and desktop swaps can follow tradeoffs like these on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [After Nearly a Decade of Distro Hopping, I Realized It Was Never About the Distro](https://daily.dev/posts/after-nearly-a-decade-of-distro-hopping-i-realized-it-was-never-about-the-distro-gvkgjjbvz) · It's Foss · 32 upvotes · 6 comments - [What’s the right Linux desktop UI for you?](https://daily.dev/posts/what-s-the-right-linux-desktop-ui-for-you--yusp0xxeg) · The New Stack · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#ubuntu](https://daily.dev/tags/ubuntu) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I switched Ubuntu's desktop to Cinnamon for speed, but the real upgrade was how I work","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2"},"datePublished":"2026-09-24T00:05:09.871Z","dateModified":"2026-09-24T00:25:48.627Z","description":"A user recounts switching Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop environment to Cinnamon to improve performance on aging hardware, finding that while Cinnamon offers...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e5b9ba6140ed49f8c2f679d41a0779b5?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e5b9ba6140ed49f8c2f679d41a0779b5?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"linux,ubuntu","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I switched Ubuntu's desktop to Cinnamon for speed, but the real upgrade was how I work"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-switched-ubuntu-s-desktop-to-cinnamon-for-speed-but-the-real-upgrade-was-how-i-work-eauoloxj2#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much RAM does Ubuntu require to run the GNOME desktop smoothly?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Ubuntu now requires at least 6GB of RAM to run its default GNOME desktop environment. 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