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.
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.
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
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.