I replaced KDE Plasma with Niri & Noctalia… here’s what happened

Niri: https://github.com/niri-wm/niri Noctalia: https://github.com/noctalia-dev/nocta... Have you ever looked at window managers and thought “yeah… that’s not for me”? That was me. I had been daily driving KDE Plasma for the last year because it is polished, reliable, and for the most part everything just works. I had no real reason to switch… until ‪@TheBlackDon‬ & curiosity got the better of me. After testing Niri and Noctalia in a VM, I realised I could run it alongside KDE without breaking my main setup, so I gave it a proper shot. I expected frustration. What I found was a workflow that felt faster, lighter, and far more focused. Using workspaces, keybinds, Super + scroll navigation, and a setup built around how I actually work completely changed how I use my Linux desktop. At the same time, it also came with friction: gaming quirks, config headaches, Polkit setup, screen resolution issues, and the reality that nothing is really “out of the box.” In this video I break down the real experience of switching from KDE Plasma to Niri and Noctalia, what feels better, what still feels worse, and whether I could actually go back. If you have ever been curious about tiling window managers but assumed they were only for keyboard-only power users, this might help. Based on my real daily driver experience on Fedora Linux. 🟡Learning Linux? | https://www.boot.dev?promo=LINUXGAMER... for 25% OFF 🟡Need a gaming server? | https://nodecraft.com/r/linuxgamerlife for 30% off 🟡Need a VPN? ProtonVPN is what i use | https://go.getproton.me/SH2Jq 00:00 Why I left KDE Plasma for Niri 00:21 My negative view of window managers 00:37 Testing Niri and Noctalia in a VM 00:48 How my workflow changed 01:25 Where KDE Plasma is still better 01:41 Gaming issues and ultrawide frustrations 02:02 Setup problems: Polkit, resolutions and config 02:43 Why this is not beginner-friendly 03:15 Why I am sticking with Niri 03:43 Who should actually try this 04:16 What Niri feels like day to day 04:38 My main movement and keybind workflow 05:04 What felt fastest after switching 05:31 What still feels awkward 05:42 How long it took to feel natural 06:04 Does it make me more organised? 06:38 What Niri does really well 06:48 What still feels rough vs KDE 07:17 Could I go back to KDE full time? 07:32 Final verdict on Niri and Noctalia 07:50 Like, subscribe and your thoughts #niri #noctalia #kdeplasma #fedoralinux #windowmanager #tilingwm #linuxdesktop #noctalia #wayland #linuxgaming #plasma6 #linuxworkflow #opensource #linuxsetup #linuxtips #linux