I really like LXQt for VMs. It is lightweight and fast enough to provide a very snappy environment, even beating out something like XFCE. With LXQt I get the minimally viable desktop environment with a panel, notification handler, etc.
Though most recently I have been using XFCE specifically because its notification widget gives me more info in the preview.
Nautilus in general is my biggest gripe with Gnome. I despise it so much that I’m willing to abandon ship to KDE when Plasma 6 reaches my distro.