A desktop environment is the bundle of components that provide you common
graphical user interface (GUI) elements such as icons, toolbars, wallpapers,
and desktop widgets. Thanks to the desktop environment, you can use Linux
graphically using your mouse and keyboard like you do in other operating
systems like Windows and macOS. Desktop Environment does exactly this. It is a
graphical interface that presents to the User, the bare kernel in a simplified
way. Thus, a Desktop Environment presents all the basic functionalities of a
Kernel to the user in an elegant and presentable way.
There are
several desktop environments and these desktop environments determines what
your Linux system looks like and how you interact with it.
Most of
the desktop environments have their own set of integrated applications and
utilities so that users get a uniform feel while using the OS. So, you get a
file explorer, desktop search, menu of applications, wallpaper and screensaver
utilities, text editors and more.
Without a
desktop environment, your Linux system will just have a terminal like utility
and you’ll have to interact it using commands only.
1. Xfce
Xfce is an Open Source desktop environment for
Unix-like systems developed in C. Being fast and lightweight, it is less
expected to trouble CPU and Memory even on older desktops.
It is
composed of separately structured parts that combine to make up for a complete
desktop environment.
Some of
the components of Xfce include:
- Xfwm : Compositing window
manager.
- Thunar : File manager, which
resembles Nautilus but is more efficient and hence fast.
- Orage: Default calendar
application for Xfce.
- Mousepad: File editor which forked
initially from Leafpad, but now being actively developed and maintained
from scratch.
- Parole: Media player based on
Gstreamer framework made for Xfce.
- Xfburn: CD/DVD burner for Xfce.
2. LXDE
LXDE stands for Lightweight X11 desktop environment
which is yet another popular desktop environment for Unix-like systems, was
developed using C (GTK+) and C++ (Qt).
The
biggest advantage of having it as your choice for desktop environment is its
low memory consumption which is lower than that of the most popular desktop
environments i.e. GNOME, KDE, and Xfce. It includes both GPL and LGPL licensed
codes.
Components
that makeup LXDE include:
- LXDM – Display Manager.
- LXMusic – Default Music Player for
XMMS2.
- Leafpad – Default text editor for
LXDE.
- Openbox – Window Manager.
- LXTask – Default Task Manager.
- PC Man File Manager – Default File Manager and
Desktop Metaphor provider.
LXDE is
the default desktop environment for many distributions including Lubuntu,
Knoppix, LXLE Linux, Artix, and Peppermint Linux OS – among others.
3. GNOME 3
GNOME is an acronym for GNU Network Object Model
and is one desktop environment composed entirely of free and open-source tools.
Written in C, C++, Python, Vala, and Javascript, GNOME is part of the GNOME
project which is composed of both volunteers and paid contributors largest
being Red Hat.
GNOME is
currently under active development with the latest stable release being GNOME
40. GNOME runs on X Windows System and also on Wayland since GNOME 3.10.
GNOME 40
replaced a lot of things starting from the default window manager which is now
being changed to Metacity instead of Mutter, task switching was attributed to a
special area called Overview, GNOME core applications are also redesigned to
provide a better user experience.
Components
of GNOME include:
- Metacity – Default Window manager.
- Nautilus – Default file Manager.
- gedit – Default text editor.
- Eye of GNOME – Default Image Viewer.
- GNOME Videos – Default Video Player.
- Epiphany – Web Browser.
4. MATE
MATE is another desktop environment
for Unix-like systems. It finds its origin from the unmaintained code-base of GNOME
2. It is developed in C, C++, and Python and licensed under multiple
licenses with some parts of code under GNU GPL, while other part being under
LGPL.
‘MATE‘
name came into the picture to differentiate from GNOME 3 which is yet
another desktop environment. It consists of both GNOME originated applications
which were earlier part of GNOME 2 and other applications which have
been developed from scratch.
Components
that makeup MATE desktop environment are:
- Caja – default file manager.
- Pluma – default text editor.
- Marco – window manager.
- Atril – Document viewer.
- Eye of MATE – An image viewer.
Since its
release, it has been the default desktop environment for Linux Mint, Sabayon
Linux, Fedora, etc. Apart from this, it is available in several repositories
including Ubuntu, Arch, Debian, Gentoo, PC Linux OS, etc. Apart from all this,
Ubuntu MATE was granted the original Ubuntu flavor status.
5. KDE Plasma 5
KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth generation of KDE
desktop environment created for Linux systems. It has been migrated to QML
since its development, using OpenGL for hardware acceleration leading to low
CPU utilization and better performance even on cheap systems.
Most
parts of its code have been released under GNU LGPL. Plasma 5 utilizes X Window
System with support for Wayland still to come. It has successfully replaced Plasma
4 on many Linux distributions including Fedora, Kubuntu, and openSUSE
Tumbleweed.
Plasma 5
provides improved support for HiDPI, along with migration to Qt5 which takes
intensive graphics rendering to GPU making the CPU faster. Apart from this
Plasma 5 includes a new default theme called Breeze.
Components
that makeup KDE Plasma 5 include:
- Kwin – Default Window
manager.
- Dolphin – Default File
Manager.
- Kwrite/KATE – Default text
editor.
- Greenview – Default Image
viewer.
- Dragon Player – Default
Video Player.
KDE
community also introduced Plasma mobile as a Plasma variant for smartphones.
Plasma mobile runs on Wayland and is compatible with Ubuntu touch and
eventually Android applications. Its latest interface was released in July
2015, with a working prototype for Nexus 5.
KDE Plasma
Desktop
- 6. Cinnamon: - Cinnamon strives to provide a traditional
user experience. Cinnamon is a fork of GNOME 3.
- 7. Enlightenment :- The Enlightenment desktop
shell provides an efficient window manager based on the Enlightenment
Foundation Libraries along with other essential desktop components like a
file manager, desktop icons and widgets. It supports themes, while still
being capable of performing on older hardware or embedded devices.
- 8. Deepin: - Deepin desktop interface and apps feature an
intuitive and elegant design. Moving around, sharing and searching etc.
has become simply a joyful experience.
9. LXQT:- LXQt is the Qt
port and the upcoming version of LXDE, the Lightweight Desktop Environment. It
is the product of the merge between the LXDE-Qt and the Razor-qt projects: A
lightweight, modular, blazing-fast and user-friendly desktop environment.
10. Pantheon – Elementary
OS :- Pantheon is the default desktop environment originally created for the
elementary OS distribution. It is written from scratch using Vala and the GTK3
toolkit. With regards to usability and appearance, the desktop has some
similarities with GNOME Shell and macOS.
11. Common Desktop Environment :- The Common Desktop Environment is a desktop
environment for Unix and OpenVMS, based on the Motif widget toolkit. It was
part of the UNIX98 Workstation Product Standard, and was long the "classic"
Unix desktop associated with commercial Unix workstations. Despite being a
legacy environment, it is still kept alive with support for Linux systems as
well.
budgie desktop environment,
cinnamon desktop environment,
deepin desktop environment,
desktop environment,
desktop environment android,
desktop environment arch linux,
desktop environment comparison,
desktop environment for fedora,
desktop environment for kali linux,
desktop environment for Ubuntu,
desktop environment for windows 10,
desktop environment in linux,
desktop environment kali linux,
desktop environment linux,
desktop environment linux terbaik,
desktop environment manjaro,
desktop environment termux,
desktop environment Ubuntu,
desktop environment vs window manager,
desktop environment windows 10,
desktop environment wsl,
gnome desktop environment,
kde desktop environment in linux,
linux desktop environments 2021,
mate desktop environment,
what is a linux desktop environment mcq,