Which version of Solus should I use

Onethezdaz Which version of Solus should I use

brent suit yourself. depends on your needs. 2 cents

Brent gave you a very good summary of the DEs that are available for Solus 4.4, but I have another suggestion, given the hardware you described. Why not try out all of the DEs in virtual machines (VMs), and then decide for yourself? It's a little like dating a number of partners until you find the one you want to settle down with for life. And the hardware you described would make an excellent VM host machine.

It's also a fun experiment, and would familiarize you with all the possibilities, besides introducing you to a valuable and useful technology, if you don't already have experience with VMs. I'm assuming your computer came with Windows -- most do -- and the Windows version of Oracle's VirtualBox (for exampe) works exactly like the Linux version of it. So what you learn while experimenting with Solus VMs would help you to take the next step after you decide which DE you prefer.

That would be creating VMs of other interesting distros, to explore those. There's very little chance that you'll find one that can compete with Solus for your affection, but you'll learn a lot along the way. And when you're tired of working with one of them, getting rid of the VM and reclaiming the space on your drive is as easy as deleting a file.

You can even create a Windows VM, for those times when you absolutely need it in order to run a program that simply isn't available for Linux at all. I use one for reading ebooks from my Nook library, for example. The free Nook application doesn't have a Linux counterpart, but my Windows VM runs it beautifully.

If you want to dump Windows altogether from the start, you could use any one of the Solus editions, although ones that are meant to use few resources in order to run well on older hardware wouldn't be my first choice. Since you asked for a recommendation, I'd suggest something more modern, like Budgie or (my personal favorite) KDE Plasma. VMs on either of those would be hard to tell from Solus running on hardware. And Solus installs FAST! If you decide on a different DE after you've explored them all, it would be quick and easy to change.

In the best case, you might find that the edition you started out with is the one you want to use forever. However you decide to get started with Solus, I'm confident that you'll love it.

For me, it was simple.
I wanted Wayland support.
So, currently, only Gnome & Plasma.
XFCE & Budgie does plan, and work on Wayland support, but it ain't in the very near future.

Then, I wanted VR support.
So, Plasma.

If you don't have very specific needs, it is just all to personal preference.
https://getsol.us/solus/experiences/

Not too sure if I should recommend you Mate, however, as it will be changed to XFCE. Despite how Solus might operate the transition, issues could happen, that's inevitable for sure important change. And, you might be surprised to see your desktop environnement changed the next day you've updated, so perhaps wait for an XFCE edition for that one.

Furthermore, one little note, you can easily change and install other Desktop Environment from other editions, so you aren't stuck with one. EXCEPT FOR PLASMA. For some obscure technical reasons. I've did try to force my way in, regardless of the warnings. Don't install plasma on other editions, nor change DE on the Plasma edition.

PS : There's also the i3 window manager bundled in the Solus repo, but it doesn't have any images for it, and i highly doubt it will in the future.

Plus one for Plasma.

The defaults look great, the DE runs quick and smooth. I'm using it in X because it "Just Works" and I know it's been supported for a long time here. Plus, Plasma has some neat widgets to put on the background. There are lots of animations to add, too, if you want to put your i7 up to the task. Here's my desktop:

PS: Sorry, couldn't help myself!

brent Not to derail this post, but I was hunting around for something after seeing @WetGeek 's rec for terminology, and then I found that Konsole offers background images in the terminal, too. I do love the KDE application offerings and how high quality their built-in apps are right out of the gate. Another reason why I can recommend KDE Plasma over other DE's. Everything feels cohesive.

PS: That's my cat!