For light-weight browser, QupZilla is recommended (and also by gnu.org).
For light-weight desktop environment, why do I feel that MATE is even lighter than Xfce... One fact is that Xubuntu is beginning to use certain MATE components.
PS, I am running Trisquel on a twelve years old notebook. It has an Atheros WLAN adapter and no ME. I learned that the initial generation ME for 945 platforms is located in the Intel Gib ethernet adapter. But my LAN adapter is non-Intel, so I'm not troubled by ME. Everything is so perfect under Trisquel.
