The verdict
Unlike some of the other Roundups, it’s easier to recommend a BSD for a desktop user. While NetBSD, MidnightBSD and DragonFlyBSD can all be used on a desktop, you’ll have to build them from a barebones command-line interface by pulling in packages using their binary package managers. The process isn’t as tedious as it sounds, but these three are more suitable to the DIYers who are used to the ways of geekier Linux distros, such as Arch Linux and Slackware.
Between them, these three BSDs have advantages that make them suitable for certain situations. For example, if you want to run a BSDbased desktop on your microwave you’ll have a better chance with NetBSD. Similarly, if your day job involves setting up virtual hosting environments on shared servers, you’ll find it easier to tune DragonFlyBSD into a desktop OS for everyday use.
But if you’re looking for point and click simplicity, the real desktop options are GhostBSD and TrueOS. These projects are as close as BSD can get to Linux on the desktop. Both of these projects offer the same functionality, convenience and applications that Linux users tend to expect. While TrueOS, with its custom management tools, is a better-equipped desktop OS than GhostBSD, it’s more restricted than the latter. For starters, if you are planning to use BSD on a 32-bit machine, you’ll have to stick with GhostBSD as TrueOS doesn’t put out ISO images for that architecture. Second, the default desktop on TrueOS is Lumina while GhostBSD uses the more familiar MATE and Xfce desktops.
However, we’ve given first place to TrueOS as besides not running on 32-bit hardware, TrueOS can do everything that GhostBSD can and then some. You can easily replace TrueOS’s default Lumina desktop with a more familiar one. It also has a much larger infrastructure, team and budget to sustain and support the project. This is evident from the slew of custom graphical admin tools. TrueOS is one of the few BSDs that uses an intuitive graphical installer that does a nice job of not scaring away first timers. It also stands out for having a graphical package manager and a large number of packages to flesh out the default installation. All things considered, GhostBSD and TrueOS are your best bets to dabble with BSD and the two least likely to throw surprises at you.