I’m currently writing this on the MATE desktop. I started with linux on the gnome 2 desktop, so it only makes sense. A long time ago I used Xmonad (a tiling window manager) but tiling has less appeal for me now. If I need/want a lightweight solution, I use CWM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cwm_(window_manager), which was originally developed on OpenBSD, but is usually available across different Linux distros and BSD’s.
I’ve tried pretty much every DE/WM under the sun at this point, and would be interested to know what you use and why
Yeah should I use MATE instead of XFCE on my gaming/work laptop?
For most people, I’d probably argue yes. Personally I’ve had less issues with screen tearing, and the environment looks a tad nicer (in my opinion). I don’t really use the extra functionality though, so if I’m trying to eek out just a little more performance XFCE is still my go to.