I am a clumsy dinosaur, I have managed to avoid using Gnome for the last 10+ years, I have no need for wizz bang dancing desktops or is it I just do not understand how to use it. So, I either need
I did a fresh install today and ran into problems that I did not write down, would it work if I used an upgrade from Centos 7 to 8 then to Alma?
Thanks for any advice
First, CentOS does not have upgrade from one major version to another. Never had. Always a fresh install.
Second, attempting to install RPM’s from one distro into another will probably create chaos (as packages have dependencies).
Mate desktop for el7 is in EPEL. The maintainer refuses to create Mate for el8.
Admittedly, I have not checked lately. I have CentOS Linux 7 setups, where Mate is in use due to hardware requirements and might continue with el7 as close to June 2024 as possible. There seems to be a chance to skip el8 and move to el9 by that date. We have binary blobs and source-install applications that all have to be ported to platform, so one less porting round sounds nice.
Sorry about the digress. I also belong to the “I don’t care” type of users. I have Gnome 3 in use. I can start applications (terminal is most common) and put them in workspaces. One or two windows per workspace. The rest I don’t care / need. (It is easier than starting X11 without window manager, just xterm – been there, done that too.)
I’ve heard that new (university) students learn Gnome 3 quite easily. I’ve also heard that these younglings, “digi-natives”, are less adept than dinosaurs …
(Naturally, hearsay is not a reliable source.)
I agree to @jlehtone comment/feedback. Still wanted to try MATE, you can give stenstorp/MATE Copr try. One of user comment indicated its worked for CentOS8, it might work for AlmaLinux too.
I’ve used Mate under C6 and C7, it was my preferred desktop. After going to Alma I tried xfce but there were serious issues with the menu system and its editor. Possibly of my own making, but pretty well unworkable. Since then I’ve settled back on KDE from EPEL and it seems fine. No silly wannabe mobile phone and a menus editor that works. 
Of course, YMMV and all that, but it’s an option to avoid heading down the unsupported route.
Thanks all. I think I will keep using CenOs7 with mate for now as a desktop comp and install Alma on my home server.
I use CentOs 7 on my web servers and will need to look at switching that soon but no great rush.
The end of CentOS Linux 7 is still 2024-06-30, so there indeed should be no great rush due to base OS.
Software Collections and Remi’s repos probably have newer features for services, if your web content is evolving.
Staying with CentOs 7 is more about stability, I use Webmin / Virtualmin to run the servers so I am waiting to see which of the alternatives they will primarily support. But will be testing Alma as I think they will be heading that way.
My desktop comps can stay on 7 till 2024 although I will probably upgrade them by then as they are already 8 years old.