I prefer the resource hog, KDE because it is so customizable.
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Depends…
On my (almost) powerful laptop I prefer Mate. It’s still customizable to a level that I like 
On my desktop I use now Cinnamon, but I’ll change it to Mate soon.
On an atom based old netbook I prefer XFCE.
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I like MATE and XFCE because they are light on resources, but still provide everything I need. Cinnamon is nice as well, though a bit hungrier. I’m not a fan of KDE - it seems to come bundled with all sorts of irritations that have to be sorted out (is there anyone who actually likes that bouncing cursor?). Gnome seems to be determined to look different, even at the expense of alienating anyone who has used Windows (why disable the minimise and maximise buttons by default?).
On my Arch system, I use Openbox - a window manager rather than a desktop, so very light on resources. It’s fun to set up and customise, but definitely not a good choice for newbies.
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Was about to say that. If I want a pretty Desktop while not worrying about it being too resource-heavy, I go for KDE Plasma. If I want a lightweight one, I go for newest versions of LXDE. If I want to go super lightweight and only resource consumption counts, then I go for LXQt. Which is basically LXDE on steroids when it comes to resource usage.
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XFCE is boring but low resource (LXDE same).
I like Mint so I use Cinnamon, but it crashes once in a while, and it uses the most RAM of all I’ve tried.
Ubuntu MATE is pretty good and lower resources than some.
Tried Elementary and it’s fun but… I dunno.
I tried Zorin’s collection of Windows lookalikes. Don’t like because they’re Windows lookalikes!
Gnome … yawn.
The latest KDE is what I like best. Best combo of useability, customizability, and RAM use (much improved).
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I like Cinnamon, it is quick and just looks great. I have never had any problems with it. It has never crashed unless I’ve done something stupid. Of all that I have tried it suits me the best
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I also like the plasma widgets as I use lots of them.
I’m torn… I have to say KDE Plasma is by far my favorite despite it being a resource hog. The latest version is stunning in terms of its appearance. In second place I’d have to say Manajro Deepin, not as much freedom to customize as I’d like but it has a lot to offer and comes with enough tweaks. In my 3rd place I’d have to put XFCE, very light weight and still allows for a decent amount of tweaks. Gnome… I’ve tried to like it, really I have. MATE is nice but I find it a bit “dated” in appearance, although Manjaro 18’s MATE is probably the nicest I have seen.
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I like Cinnamon. It is very simple and straightforward. Somehow it doesn’t go well with Ubuntu. Deleted the ubuntu-unity-desktop when updated through it.
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im now using plasma 5, but i still feel sometimes the urge to move back to xfce, just the simplicity of xfce, and occasional crashes of kde.
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I’m currently using KDE / Plasma, and liking it very much. It uses less ram and is quite snappy on my old laptop.
Also have a machine with xfce4 on it and like it as well. But lean to KDE.
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I’m Gnome all the way. Tried them all, stay with the work flow you know.
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when i originally installed bodhi linux about 18 months ago and realized that the enlightenment-based moksha desktop didn’t use the desktop as a folder, it felt awkward because i was newly converted from windows and was used to having all kinds of mess on my screen that served as a haphazard to-do list. recently i added debian to my third partition (the second is ubuntu mate) just to play with it and chose xfce because i had never worked with it and wanted to see what it looked like. it didn’t take long to realize having to trackpad back over to the bottom left corner just to open firefox or screenshot felt like work since the no folder desktop lets me click anywhere and bring up that menu. i did notice when i was poking around the settings that there is an option to make xfce in debian not use the desktop as a folder as well. i may play with that at some point, but just thought the difference was interesting
one of the main reasons i enjoy moksha (elive had a cool take on an enlightenment desktop the last time i tried it about a year ago, but it was way more flash than i need) is that it is quite low-resource (the legacy version runs like a champ on my thinkpad t60 with a core two duo). i’m not one much for flash or extensive customization and decoration. as long as most everything is functional, that is good enough for me.
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I started with Ubuntu 5 and stayed with whatever default Ubuntu had until 18.04. When it moved from Unity back to Gnome had a few horrible crashes and couldnt get any help or it was just to new to know what the solutions were. I am now on Kubuntu and still getting used to it. I need my computer for work so I just need to to be stable. It does use a bit more resources than I would like but it works well, only had a few problems overall and that was more due to facebook running up the cpu while on my browser than anything else.
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Gnome has transformed my workflow. Once you get use to it (this doesn’t take long at all, a few hours maybe) it transforms your workflow completely. Its beautiful and runs very smoothly. Yes it is a bit more memory heavy, but so what is it uses 5GB when I am going for gold and have 10GB to play with anyway. Try Gnome if you get around to it and I am sure you will love it in no time. Currently running POPOS 18.10 on my main laptop and Fedora Core 29 on my home machine. Both of them work and look beautiful.
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16 gigs of ram in my old laptop and I rock with no problems with Gnome on Solus. If I wanted something that looks like Windows…I’d just use Windows.
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I use the i3 tiling window manager, which allows me to move between windows and terminals easily with my keyboard. Also it is light on resources.
I don’t care how it looks because all my screen real estate is covered with windows on all three of my monitors.
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XFCE! I put it on everything that uses a desktop. Customization of everything with low resource usage.
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I found Cinnamon to be the best and most efficient for my uses. I like the level of customization and clean/simple design of it. It’s also pretty gentle on system resources and even runs smoothly on older, slower systems.
My second choice would probably be XFCE (mainly for lower-spec systems).
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What sort of widgets does Cinnamon and XFCE have?