Desktop Environments
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes Last updated on 29th September 2012
For ages, it felt like the Linux world was settling for the appearances of GNOME 2 and KDE 3, yet the individual projects behind these had other ideas. KDE has its pain first when version 4 was released, but successive evolution appears to have mollified whatever complaints there might have. The release of GNOME Shell still continues to divide opinion, though that too is maturing as part of GNOME 3.
The reaction to the dramatic changes made to GNOME resulted in two alternatives that are not dissimilar to GNOME 2 and both initially featured in Linux Mint. The first is a fork of GNOME 2 that is known as MATE (apparently pronounced "Ma-Tay" despite all other appearances to an English speaker). That appeared first in Linux Mint 12 alongside a customised version of GNOME. With GNOME Shell still changing significantly every release, Linux Mint then replaced that option with Cinnamon. Though using modern underpinnings like GTK3 and eventually going its own way with them, it has much of the feel of GNOME 2 for those who fancy that more established feel. In fact, the GNOME project has since followed some of the lead of Linux Mint 12 by creating a Classic mode using extensions, and you can experience that in CentOS or Red Hat Enterprise Linux, both of which are intended for the more conservative enterprise market.
LXDE is another desktop environment that keeps a lot of the feel of GNOME 2 and even uses GTK2 too. It is meant to be a more lightweight option that can be used on older computers and even has a variant based on Qt called LXQt anticipating a time when GTK2 libraries become obsolete. Staying on the lightweight theme, XFCE (pronounced "x-face") is another viable option that has a top panel and a dock at the screen bottom, much like what you see in Mac OS X.
From the list that I have covered already, you should see that there is plenty of choice in the world of Free (as in liberty) Software. Linux has not kept all of its desktop environments to itself either, with OpenIndiana using GNOME 2 and various BSD distros using various desktop environments. Of the latter, PC-BSD probably offers the most choice, with even GNOME Shell or Cinnamon on offer alongside the de facto default of MATE. So, UNIX operating systems get to benefit from the world of Linux Open-Source software too, so all can check out the list below to see what suits them.
A modern desktop environment developed by the Solus project, designed to be lightweight and customizable. It uses GNOME technologies but offers a unique user experience.
A desktop environment originally forked from GNOME 3, developed by Linux Mint. It aims to provide a more traditional desktop experience with modern features.
A lightweight and highly customizable window manager and desktop environment known for its sleek aesthetics and efficient use of system resources.
A highly configurable virtual window manager for X11. It's one of the older window managers, known for its flexibility and low resource usage.
A popular desktop environment known for its simplicity and ease of use. It's the default desktop for many major Linux distributions.
An open-source implementation of the Cocoa (formerly OpenStep) API, providing a development environment similar to macOS.
A feature-rich desktop environment known for its high customizability and integration. It uses the Qt framework and includes a wide range of applications.
A lightweight desktop environment that is a Qt port of LXDE, aimed at being resource-efficient and suitable for older hardware.
A fork of GNOME 2, created to maintain the traditional GNOME 2 user experience. It's designed to be intuitive and attractive.
A minimalist window manager that uses keyboard shortcuts exclusively, inspired by GNU Screen.
A lightweight window manager designed to emulate the NeXTSTEP user interface. It's known for its speed and low system requirements.
A lightweight desktop environment that aims to be fast and resource-efficient while still being visually appealing and user-friendly.