I may give Linux Lite a try, which is of course xfce based. Void I hear is very good, but after researching it a bit, I feel it's more complicated or advanced than what it appears. more for like advanced users that really know how to work linux. i'm more intermediate.

I guess in my case, for say software/firmware/driver purposes, i'm looking for a machine that is more open source maybe is the right word? less windows based and more agnostic with that sorta stuff

Thanks! but when it comes to linux hardware vendors like those, for me at least, it's hard to know which ones are good and which ones are bad or unknowns. also, i did look into the lower grade star labs and there was something about the processors they used.... i did a little reading and they got poor marks for being uber slow or something. i could have misinterpreted things though.

Nope, i dont even really know what they are; always thought they were purely game related and im not a gamer. is it basically like a mini pc?

good to know, thanks. arch is out of my comfort zone lol though I have ambitions to slowly work my way into it with something easy. I used manjaro years ago and loved it. seems to have a bad rep, but I think their distro is most functional and beautiful, but again, i'm no Arch expert

man, can't afford their gear unfortunately. my plan was to get my dell xps 13 9310 fixed (bios stuck in manufacturing mode) then sell that and use whatever I make to purchase my next device. in the mean time I get to use this old old probably decade old asus machine :)

Yup my dell xps 13 had kaby lake processors, not all cores though.

Sorry, over my head on what a binary blob is lol does it have anything to do with proprietary stuff?

thanks alot. are there certain thinkpad models to look at or will any thinkpad be ok? i think i've heard that after a certain model, lenovo started making changes or something and it affected the linux experience. idk i could be way wrong

Thanks for the info. I always sorta assumed all the environments programs are compatible no matter which environment you're using within your distro. i guess my gripe is the clutter. when i wanna use say Mate, i want a pure mate experience with only Mate traits, settings, apps, programs instead of all the other environment aspects being lumped in there too. just my preference I guess

yes Ive heard they are good too, but i've been having issues with mine. it came with windows pre-installed, i doubt that plays much of a role but Idk. like the system is naturally fitted for windows only, so the linux experience has been a little rough around the edges. I have no clue, just a thought maybe

Really??? I have always heard the opposite, that Intel is best for Linux? who knows