i was make a topic in old forum with different username , for whonix hardware requirements, and because of that the system requirements recommendation in whonix was update for ssd and ram , today i have a defiantly better recommendation because not need money for hardware , time for upgrade , stress for upgrade e.t.c. and that is :
to use linux host with xfce4 desktop environment , so not need an expensive ssd disk or cpu with much ghz , or a lot of ram , for example i have a laptop with 2.3 ghz cpu ,
and a traditionally hdd (5.400 rpm) so my host is linux with xfce and whonix runs very smooth ! keep in mind that will defiantly need cpu with vt-x or amd-v like i have already on my system , otherwise yes whonix will not be smooth at all .That will be safe , can aply and in guests to but discurage that for security reasons.
Good day,
Installing a different desktop environment might carry a few security issues and risks with it, as mentioned here: Other Desktop Environments - Whonix
So please do it with caution.
Furthermore, the recommendations are just that, recommendations, which might not be necessary. Personally, I have no problem running Whonix with KDE on my dual core notebook using a slow 5400rpm HDD. So I’d recommend trying the standard before changing the environment.
Have a nice day,
Ego
I think here is a misunderstanding.
Other Desktop Environments - Whonix talks about other desktop environments inside Whonix.
@anonymityISright talks about other desktop environments on the host to save system resources. Suggests to modify the System Requirements - Whonix page.
exactly ,i write for other desktop environments on the host to save system resources,
not in guests, because its a security risk on guests, but for host it is very good idea:
if kde on host then need 1ghz cpu just only for host desktop environment, If xfce on host then 300Mhz cpu will need *Yes will run even with 3 kde’s totally whonix system with 2.3 ghz cpu but will be slower .*And think and the ram , kde need at least 768 mb , xfce need 400 mb,
so i sugest to update the whonix system requirements again and remove the ssd , because future users may not proceed to install whonix if read that for ssd , are expensive s , whonix with host installed need at least 60 gb ssd and will grow the whonix disk images by time.
For qubeos yes : it is strongly recommended ssd ( System requirements | Qubes OS ) but for whonix with xfce host not. Ok , what if a user wand to install whonix on windows 7 or 8 ? that need alone a 1 ghz cpu , or linux with unity ,
again the same , so may not change the update for whonix system requirements,
I hope to help with my post ,
Just now added one more sentence to
“Linux users with low RAM might save some RAM on the host if used a
lighter desktop environment than KDE, Gnome etc. such as xfce or lxde.”