Linux Mint surpasses MX Linux on Distrowatch to grab #1 spot
Yes, I know that the ranking is not a good metric of real world use.
Just posting this because MX Linux has been in the number one spot for a long time (2 years perhaps?) and it's surprising to see some other distro on the top of their site.
Debian based is very much not a con. You want a working stable system that is easy to use. RHEL like systems can be more stable but the added overhead means a slower package manager
Yes, unless you install some buggy stuff on top it's as snappy as xfce - tested on literally j4125 (it's GPU helps), with wobbly burning windows and everything no holdups, smol RAM usage too (especially stock).
Why is Debian based a problem? I ask this as my first IRL Linux user that taught me about Linux still uses Debian Unstable as his daily driver workhorse, and he is a CS Theory Doctor, and has to reboot his system once a year or so to keep it functioning properly.
You know what? You might be right; I never actually bothered to check if Cinnamon was heavier than Plasma, I just remember it feeling very stuttery when I last daily drove it. Admittedly, that was a very long time ago and GNOME was a complete shit show back then so Cinnamon probably just inherited some of its performance issues. I imagine all of that is fixed by now.