Why LXQt 2.4.0 Is Perfect for Low-End PCs in 2026

If you’re still running an older laptop or a budget desktop and wondering whether Linux can give it new life, the answer is a confident yes — especially now. Why LXQt 2.4.0 is perfect for low-end PCs in 2026 is a question more people are asking, and the timing couldn’t be better. On April 20, 2026, the LXQt team officially dropped version 2.4.0, and while it’s not a flashy feature-packed release, it’s exactly the kind of thoughtful, polished update that makes a lightweight desktop environment genuinely great to use every day.

Let’s break down what’s new, what’s improved, and why this release deserves your attention if you’re trying to squeeze more life out of older hardware.

What Is LXQt, and Why Does It Matter in 2026?

LXQt is a desktop environment built on the Qt framework. It was born from the merger of LXDE and Razor-qt, and its entire design philosophy revolves around being fast, modular, and resource-efficient. Unlike heavier environments like GNOME or KDE Plasma, LXQt is built to do more with less.

In 2026, this still matters enormously. Not everyone has access to a modern machine. Students, schools in developing regions, small businesses on tight budgets, and hobbyists all rely on older hardware. Even if you do have a newer computer, many people simply prefer a desktop that doesn’t get in your way with animations, background telemetry, or constant updates pulling system resources.

LXQt sits in a sweet spot: it’s modern enough to handle today’s software, but lean enough to run comfortably on hardware with 1–2 GB of RAM and a dual-core processor from a decade ago.

LXQt 2.4.0: What the Official Release Actually Says

The official release notes from April 20, 2026 are honest and refreshingly straightforward. The team describes this release as bringing “mostly bugfixes and code cleanup but also some more nice improvements,” with several new features already rolled out in point releases since November.

That kind of transparency is rare. The developers aren’t overpromising — they’re delivering a mature, stable desktop that keeps getting better with each cycle.

Here’s a closer look at the key changes.

Improved File Management with PCManFM-Qt

One of the daily-use improvements in 2.4.0 involves the file manager, PCManFM-Qt. When you open a save dialog, the base filename is now automatically highlighted, which means you can immediately start typing to rename a file without having to manually select the text first. It’s a small thing, but it’s exactly the kind of friction removal that makes a desktop feel polished.

For users running multi-monitor setups on Wayland, there’s another fix worth noting: the visibility of desktop items is now consistent across screens. Previously, the “Hide Desktop Items” setting could behave inconsistently when you had multiple monitors. That’s been ironed out, making LXQt a more viable option for people using dual-screen configurations on older workstations.

Power Management Gets Smarter — Especially for Laptops

This is a genuinely useful addition for anyone using LXQt on a laptop, which is a huge portion of its user base.

LXQt 2.4.0 introduces a separate monitor blanking timeout for AC power and battery modes. So if your laptop is plugged in, the screen can stay on longer. On battery, it can blank sooner to save power. Previously, you had one setting for everything. Now the control is granular.

The release also notes that “some useless options got removed from the combo boxes,” which speaks to a design philosophy of cleaning up the UI rather than accumulating clutter. And the overall layout of the power management settings window has been improved for clarity.

If you’re running a ThinkPad from 2013 or a budget laptop from a few years ago, these power management tweaks can genuinely extend your battery life and give you more control over how your machine behaves.

The Panel Gets a Volume Upgrade

The LXQt Panel is one of the most customizable panels in the Linux world, and 2.4.0 makes the volume plugin significantly more practical.

The volume plugin now features a horizontal layout and — here’s the part that’s actually very useful — it can display all available audio sinks. If you have both speakers and a USB headset plugged in, you can see and manage both from the panel. The default sink volume can also be adjusted with the mouse wheel or touchpad scroll directly on the panel icon, so you don’t need to open any additional dialogs.

For low-end PC users who often have simple setups and don’t want to open a full audio mixer just to change volume, this is a quality-of-life upgrade that will be immediately noticed.

Earlier in the 2.3.x series (which feeds into 2.4.0), the team also fixed an issue where the “Fancy menu” filter wasn’t prioritizing correctly. Now if you type “fir” into the app launcher, Firefox will always appear at the top, rather than buried beneath less relevant matches. These small UX refinements add up.

Session Management: X11 and Wayland Are Now Separated

This is one of the more significant structural improvements in 2.4.0. LXQt now separates the settings for X11 and Wayland sessions into distinct categories. The Wayland session settings only appear when lxqt-wayland-session is installed, which keeps things clean for users who aren’t using Wayland.

For low-end PC users, this matters because older hardware often performs better on X11, while newer (or slightly more capable) machines might benefit from a Wayland session. Having the settings separated means less confusion and a cleaner configuration experience.

There’s also a new capability for Wayland users: the LXQt main menu can now be opened via a keyboard shortcut by adding a command for lxqt-qdbus openmenu in compositor settings. It’s a small but welcome improvement for keyboard-first users.

QTerminal Gets a Bundle of Fixes

If you use the terminal regularly — and on a low-end machine, you probably do, since terminal tools are often faster than GUI alternatives — QTerminal has received a solid round of improvements.

Here’s what’s new in QTermWidget and QTerminal:

• Custom tab name behavior has been improved
• A shortcut can now be assigned to the lock button (keep open) in dropdown mode
• The “Nord” color theme has been added, giving you a clean, cool-toned color scheme out of the box
• The “Open/Copy link” actions in the context menu, which had disappeared in some cases, are now fixed
• URL pattern handling is fixed — previously, URLs with a closing bracket would return a 404 when opened from the terminal
• Search highlighting now lights up all matches simultaneously and the code behind it has been cleaned up

For users who live in the terminal, these aren’t just cosmetic fixes. Broken URL handling and disappearing context menu options are genuine annoyances, and they’ve been addressed.

The Calculator in LXQt Runner Is Smarter Now

LXQt Runner is the application launcher you can pull up with a keyboard shortcut. One of its built-in features is a calculator, and in 2.4.0 there’s a subtle but logical improvement: the calculator now activates when you start typing a number, not just when you type an equals sign first.

So if you type “24 * 7” directly into the runner, it’ll immediately treat it as a calculation. Before, you’d have had to start with “=” to trigger the calculator mode. It’s more intuitive now and brings it in line with how people naturally use quick-launch calculators.

Notifications Are Less Noisy in Do Not Disturb Mode

Here’s another thoughtful fix: transient notifications — things like song title notifications from media players — are no longer saved when Do Not Disturb mode is active.

This makes complete sense. If you’ve told your system you don’t want to be disturbed, the last thing you need is a backlog of 40 “Now Playing” notifications waiting for you when you come back. The team has cleaned this up so Do Not Disturb actually means something.

Under the Hood: Standards Compliance and Cleanup

There are a few lower-level changes in 2.4.0 that are worth mentioning even if they don’t have flashy visible effects:

• $XDG_STATE_HOME directory implementation has been added, bringing LXQt into compliance with the XDG Base Directory specification. This matters for software that stores state data separately from config data.
• Fixed NotShowIn=LXQt handling in .desktop files, meaning applications that should be hidden from the LXQt menu will now correctly stay hidden.
• Logout from SystemdProvider is now supported, improving compatibility with systemd-based session management.

These are the kinds of changes that make LXQt work better with the rest of the Linux ecosystem, especially on Debian-based systems like Lubuntu or on Arch and its derivatives.

Why Low-End PCs Specifically Benefit from LXQt 2.4.0

Let’s step back and think about the bigger picture. Why LXQt 2.4.0 is perfect for low-end PCs in 2026 isn’t just about the new features — it’s about the cumulative effect of a well-maintained, philosophically consistent project.

Memory Footprint

LXQt typically idles at around 200–300 MB of RAM, sometimes even lower depending on your configuration. Compare that to GNOME on Ubuntu, which can idle at 700 MB to over 1 GB. On a machine with 2 GB of RAM total, that difference is the difference between a usable system and a sluggish one.

No Mandatory Compositor Overhead

By default, LXQt doesn’t force a compositor on you. If your machine doesn’t have the GPU grunt to handle compositing effects, you can run without one and still have a perfectly functional desktop. You’re not fighting the system.

Qt Framework Benefits

Because LXQt is built on Qt, it benefits from Qt’s ongoing performance improvements. Qt 6 is now the baseline, and Qt 6’s rendering pipeline is faster and more efficient than Qt 5 on many hardware configurations. The fact that LXQt 2.4.0 still supports building on Debian “Trixie” — without changing required Qt versions — means it remains accessible across a wide range of distros.

Modular by Design

You don’t have to use every piece of LXQt. Don’t want the panel? Replace it. Prefer a different file manager? Use it. This modularity means you can strip the desktop down to exactly what you need, which is invaluable on constrained hardware.

Which Distros Ship LXQt 2.4.0?

As of April 2026, LXQt 2.4.0 is available or will be landing soon across a wide range of distributions. The official project page lists support for:

• Lubuntu (Ubuntu-based, the most popular LXQt distro)
• Arch Linux and derivatives like Manjaro and EndeavourOS
• Fedora (via the LXQt spin)
• Debian (Trixie and later)
• openSUSE
• Void Linux
• FreeBSD and NetBSD (yes, LXQt runs on BSDs too)

If you’re on Lubuntu or Arch, you’re likely to get 2.4.0 quickly through your standard package manager.

Real-World Use Cases: Who Should Use LXQt 2.4.0?

• Students with old laptops: If your school-issued or secondhand laptop has 2–4 GB of RAM and a spinning hard drive, LXQt will give you a responsive experience that GNOME or KDE simply can’t match.
• Older desktops repurposed as home servers or secondary machines: LXQt makes these useful without requiring hardware upgrades.
• Developers who prefer a distraction-free environment: The lightweight nature means more resources available for your compiler, Docker containers, or virtual machines.
• Anyone in regions where internet bandwidth is limited: A lean desktop means smaller update packages and faster system performance even on slow connections.

Final Thoughts

LXQt 2.4.0 is the kind of release that doesn’t scream for attention but quietly earns it. The power management improvements, cleaner Wayland/X11 session separation, smarter volume controls, and QTerminal fixes all point to a project that listens to its users and ships thoughtful improvements.

If you’ve been on the fence about whether a lightweight desktop is worth your time in 2026 — especially for older hardware — this release makes a strong case. It’s stable, it’s clean, and it keeps getting better. And for anyone still squeezing life out of a 10-year-old laptop or a budget PC, LXQt 2.4.0 might just be the best desktop upgrade you can make without spending a single rupee or dollar on new hardware.

Give it a try. Your old machine will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Disclaimer

This article is written for informational purposes based on the official LXQt 2.4.0 release notes published on April 20, 2026. Performance figures mentioned (such as RAM usage) are approximate and can vary depending on your specific hardware, distro, and configuration. The author has no affiliation with the LXQt project. Always refer to the official LXQt documentation for the most accurate and up-to-date information before making any system changes.

About the Author

Anup

Administrator

Anup Yadav is a passionate tech writer specializing in Linux news, Tech news, AI, Crypto, and Gadgets. Founder of Tech Refreshing, he simplifies complex topics like open-source software, blockchain, and the latest innovations to help readers stay ahead in the digital era. His insights on Linux distros, AI tools, and technology trends make him a trusted voice for tech enthusiasts and professionals alike.

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