Linux Desktop Environments

Environments for Linux Desktop

In Linux, there are so many choices, and this includes the desktop environments and window managers. Four of the most popular

desktop environments in Linux are GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and

LXDE. All four offer sophisticated point-and-click graphical user

interfaces (GUI) which are on par with the desktop environments

found in Windows and Mac OS X. When you ask different people

which of these four is best, you will likely get many different

answers. So which is the best between GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and

LXDE? Well..... it is largely a matter of opinion, and the

capabilities of your computer hardware can also be important in

deciding. For example, users with older computers will be better

served to choose Xfce or especially LXDE, while users with newer

hardware can get more desktop effects by choosing KDE or

GNOME. Another consideration when choosing a desktop

environment is your preference for customizing it. If you like to

have a lot of options to customize and tweak your desktop, then

KDE will by default give you the greatest flexibility to do this. Xfce

comes next, and then LXDE, while Unity and the default GNOME

3.x shell offer relatively few options in the way of desktop

customization. If GNOME 2.x is thrown in this mix, then its ability

to be customized would probably fall somewhere between KDE

and Xfce, though the GNOME 2.x desktop is being replaced by

newer versions. Personally, I like all of them, and if you have the

time and are a bit adventurous, then I recommend you try each of

the major desktop environments described below, along with

newcomers like Razor-qt, or some of the window managers such

as Enlightenment, and decide which of them works best for you.

Page 1 of 17Desktop Environments for Linux - Renewable PCs

27-04-2012http://www.renewablepcs.com/about-linux/kde-gnome-or-xfce

GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE, and Enlightenment are all excellent

and are definitely worth consideration.

A Brief Description of GNOME, KDE, Xfce,

and LXDE:

GNOME [1] - Currently, GNOME (GNU Network Object Model

Environment) is in the process of transitioning from version 2.x

(which is still used by some distros that offer GNOME) to version

3.x, which was recently released. With GNOME 3.x comes its new

shell, which is a wide departure from the traditional GNOME 2.x

desktop. Many people who loved the GNOME 2.x desktop are

unhappy with the direction taken by the GNOME 3.x shell, and this

has brought some controversy and a "splintering" of the GNOME

world [2]. For example, Ubuntu (beginning with version 11.04)

released the Unity shell as its new default desktop, which runs on

top of GNOME 2.x, and the newer Ubuntu 11.10 Unity runs on top

of GNOME 3.x. Also, developers of Linux Mint are working on

their own desktop, called Cinnamon, which is based on GNOME

3.x, but has the look and feel of the traditional GNOME 2.x-based

Mint desktop and menu. So basically, GNOME at the moment

finds itself in four major manifestations: the old GNOME 2.x, the

new GNOME 3.x shell, Unity, and Cinnamon. Ubuntu, Linux Mint,

Debian, Fedora, and CentOS are major distros which use

GNOME in their main editions.

It should also be mentioned that GNOME has a wealth of

applications which are designed for its desktop, but they can also

be used in the other desktop environments as well; click here to

see a list of them [3]. Following are a few applications and

components of GNOME:

Window Manager: Metacity (GNOME 2.x); Mutter (GNOME 3.x

shell)

File Manager: Nautilus



Office Suite: GNOME Office (which includes AbiWord and

Gnumeric)

Music Player: Rhythmbox

Video Player: Totem

CD/DVD Burner: Brasero

Games: GnomeGames

Below are brief descriptions of GNOME 2.x, the GNOME 3.x shell,

Unity, and Cinnamon:

GNOME 2.x

Now the "old school" GNOME, version

2.x has dual taskbars, known as

"panels." One panel is located at the top

of the screen in the form of a menu

bar and an additional panel is found at

the bottom of the screen. Because of

this, some people would say that

GNOME 2.x more closely resembles the Mac OS X operating

system in appearance than it does Microsoft Windows. While this

may be true in its default settings, GNOME 2.x can easily be

configured to more closely resemble Windows. Regarding system

resource usage, GNOME 2.x requires less RAM but more CPU

than the GNOME 3.x shell, and less RAM and CPU than Unity or

KDE but more than Xfce or LXDE. GNOME 2.x has a menu at the

left of the menu bar (top panel) which is very simple and easy to

use, and unfortunately, this extremely nice menu does not exist in

either the GNOME 3.x shell or Unity. So far Debian and some

other distros have continued keeping GNOME 2.x as their default

desktop, but those days are probably numbered. For example,

while GNOME 2.x is found in the latest stable version (6.0

"squeeze") of Debian, the GNOME 3.x shell appears in the

unstable "sid" version [4]. Though the GNOME 2.x desktop is

being replaced by the GNOME 3.x shell and Unity, perhaps the

essence of GNOME 2.x will be kept alive through MATE and

Cinnamon.



Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of the

GNOME 2.x desktop running in Debian.

Recommended System Requirements for GNOME 2.x

Required RAM 384 MB

Required CPU 800 MHz

http://linuxreviews.org/software/desktops/ [5]

GNOME 3.x Shell

The newly released GNOME 3.x

with its GNOME Shell user interface

is a drastic change from the

"classic" GNOME 2.x. While the

GNOME 3.x shell is fairly intuitive,

for someone who is accustomed to

GNOME 2.x, or any other desktop environment for that matter,

there will be a considerable amount of adjustment. In the GNOME

3.x shell, there is only one panel located at the top of the desktop,

and there is no longer a traditional menu. To open programs,

users can either press the Windows key, or they can click on

"Activities" found on the left side of the panel. This gives the

options of a program launcher that appears on the left side of the

desktop, an "Applications" option found on the upper left part of

the desktop (which is the closest thing to a menu), or they can

search for programs using the search box on the upper right of the

desktop. Additionally, when clicking on "Activities," a desktop

switcher appears on the right side of the desktop. Another change

involves the buttons on the windows; in GNOME 2.x, and

practically every other desktop environment or window manager,

there are at least three buttons found at the top of each window:

one to exit the window, one to maximize the window, and one to

minimize the window. However, in the default GNOME 3.x shell,

there is only one button that is used to exit the window, which

really takes some getting used to. If you want your laptop or

desktop to look and behave like a cell phone or tablet, then the



GNOME 3.x shell might be for you. Overall though, the GNOME

3.x shell is a very simple, clean, and visually pleasing desktop.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of the the

default GNOME 3.x desktop shell in Fedora 16.

Recommended System Requirements for the GNOME 3.x shell in

its default mode

Required RAM 768 MB


http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora [6]

One option in GNOME 3.x is to run it in

the "Fallback Mode," which is designed

for hardware not capable of handling the

more graphically intensive default

GNOME 3.x desktop shell. The Fallback

Mode strongly resembles the user

interface in GNOME 2.x and should

appeal to those who are not comfortable with the default. You can

click here to read an informative article about the GNOME 3.x

Fallback Mode and how to make it your default desktop [7]. Click

on the picture to the left to see a larger screenshot of GNOME 3.x

in the Fallback Mode running in Fedora 16. Ubuntu users can

have this option by installing a package called "GNOME-Session-

Fallback."

Another option is to install extensions to GNOME 3.x such as

GNOME Shell Frippery, which turns the GNOME 3.x Shell into an

even more GNOME 2.x-like experience than the Fallback Mode

[8].

Unity [9]

Originally designed by Canonical for use on netbooks, Unity has

(beginning with Ubuntu 11.04) replaced GNOME 2.x as the default

desktop shell in Ubuntu. With the advent of Ubuntu 11.10, the



latest Unity now runs on top of

GNOME 3.x and it includes a 2D

mode which allows it to run on older

hardware. In essence, Unity is a

move away from a menu-driven

desktop to a text and search-based

desktop with its "Heads-Up Display," aka HUD, which will

anticipate your queries in a manner similar to a Google

search. Unity requires more system resources than the GNOME

3.x shell or KDE, not to mention all of the other popular Linux

desktop environments. In Unity, there is one panel and it is always

at the top of the desktop. Additionally, there is a dock-like program

called the "launcher" which is always on the left side of the

desktop. In appearance, Unity very much resembles a Mac OS X

desktop where the dock has been positioned on the left side. In

my opinion, Unity is a very nice looking desktop, but it is still in

some ways a step backward in the area of customization

compared to the traditional GNOME 2.x desktop. However, Unity

has excellent compatibility with touch screen technology and

seems to be the way things are going in computing. While there

are many people who have criticized Unity, the direction

Canonical has taken with it makes sense in light of such

endeavors as Ubuntu for Android, which will be available with the

release of Ubuntu 12.04. Basically, Ubuntu for Android will be an

app for dual core Android phones, which will allow users to dock

their phones to a keyboard and monitor to have the full Ubuntu

desktop. Unity has improved significantly since it began, and it has

grown on me and I like it much more now than when I first began

to use it.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of the Unity

desktop in Ubuntu 11.10.

Recommended System Requirements for Unity

Required RAM 1 GB

Required CPU 1 GHz

http://askubuntu.com/questions/22402/will-ubuntu-11-04-work-on-my-old-

pc [10]



Unity does not have a "traditional"

menu like GNOME 2.x, but

programs can be easily accessed

by clicking on the Ubuntu symbol on

the upper part of the launcher, or by

pushing the "Windows" button

found on most PCs. This opens up a box called the "dash" where

users can search by typing in the name of desired programs to

open them. Click on the picture to the left to see a screenshot of

Ubuntu's search filter mode found in the dash, which is the closest

thing to a traditional menu in Unity.

Cinnamon [11]

The MGSE (Mint GNOME Shell

Extensions) and MATE are desktops

offered in Linux Mint 12. MGSE is an

extension of the GNOME 3.x shell, and

MATE is a fork of the now unmaintained

code from GNOME 2.x. Both MGSE and

MATE have higher degrees of usability

and customizability compared to the default GNOME 3.x

shell. MGSE with its top and bottom panels is in my opinion a sort

of "hybrid" in appearance and function between the GNOME 3.x

shell and the traditional Linux Mint desktop, and while it is nice, it

does not seem as consistent in nature as the older Linux Mint

desktops. In order to make a desktop that is more truly in line with

the essence of older Linux Mint desktops, the developers of Linux

Mint have created the Cinnamon interface, which is an actual fork

of the GNOME 3.x shell, rather than simply an extension of it.

Cinnamon can be installed in Linux Mint 12, as well as other

distros running GNOME 3.x, and it is planned that Cinnamon will

be the default desktop for the upcoming main edition of Linux Mint

13. When compared to MGSE, Cinnamon much more closely

resembles the traditional GNOME 2.x-based desktop of Linux Mint



11 with its single panel at the bottom of the screen. Also,

Cinnamon has a menu which more closely resembles the "Mint

Menu" of the past. Cinnamon is a return to a desktop that is

traditional, yet still has the "modern" underpinnings of GNOME

3.x.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of the

Cinnamon desktop in Linux Mint 12.

Recommended System Requirements for Cinnamon (probably

similar to Linux Mint's requirements)

Required RAM 512 MB

Required CPU 1 GHz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mint [12]

KDE [13] - In many ways, KDE (K

Desktop Environment) is very

similar in appearance to Microsoft

Windows and Windows users will

likely feel very much at home when

using KDE. In a similar manner to Windows, users access the

KDE menu by clicking on a button on the left side of the single

panel, which by default is found at the bottom of the screen,

however this may be easily changed and customized by the user.

KDE is arguably the most powerful, versatile, smoothly integrated,

and visually pleasing of all the Linux desktops and has more point-

and-click customization options and "eye candy" than GNOME,

Xfce, or LXDE. With its Plasma Workspaces, users can easily add

a variety of widgets to the desktop. While KDE is more polished in

appearance than GNOME, Xfce, or LXDE, it is also more resource

-hungry. On the other hand, KDE requires less system resources

than Ubuntu's Unity and less RAM than the GNOME 3.x

shell. OpenSUSE, PCLinuxOS, Mageia, Chakra, and Mandriva

are some major Linux distros running KDE in their main

editions. Kubuntu is the KDE version of Ubuntu. In summary, KDE



is an outstanding desktop environment that is most definitely

worth consideration.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of KDE 4.7

in Kubuntu 11.10.

To the left is a screenshot of the

default KDE menu in Kubuntu.

Like GNOME, KDE includes a large

number of applications which are

designed to be used in its desktop,

many of which have a name that

begins with the letter "K." For

example, Konqueror is a web

browser and file manager,

and KStars is a desktop

planetarium. Also like the GNOME

applications, the KDE applications

can be used in other desktop environments. You can click here to

see a list of KDE applications [14]. Following are a few

applications and components of KDE:

Window Manager: KWin

File Manager: Dolphin

Office Suite: KOffice

Music Player: Amarok

Video Player: Dragon Player

CD/DVD Burner: K3b

Terminal Emulator: Konsole

Games: The KDE Games Center

Education: KDE Edu

Recommended System Requirements for KDE

Required RAM 615 MB

Required CPU 1 GHz

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3930006/GNOME-vs-

KDE-The-Latest-Round.htm [15]



One option in KDE 4.7 is to run it in

the "Search and Launch" mode,

which in some ways is similar in

appearance to the GNOME 3.x

shell and to Ubuntu's Unity. This

mode with its large icons and

search can be used with a touchscreen, and is great for smaller

devices such as netbooks and tablets. While the Search and

Launch mode is an option in KDE, it is not the default like it is in

the GNOME 3.x shell and in Unity. The Search and Launch mode

is easily activated or deactivated by clicking on the "Show Activity

Manager" button found on the desktop panel, next to the

"Application Launcher Menu." Click on the picture to the left to see

a larger screenshot of the KDE 4.7 Search and Launch mode

running in Kubuntu 11.10.

Xfce [16] - Less resource-hungry than GNOME or KDE, Xfce is a

great choice for older computers

and it is still a full-fledged desktop

environment that offers a great deal

to the user. In my opinion, Xfce provides a nice balance between

functionality and conservation of system resources, while still

having a beautiful desktop. In its default appearance, the newly-

released Xfce 4.8 very much resembles Mac OS X with its dock-

like panel found at the bottom of the desktop. Users can drag their

favorite applications from the menu (found on the left side of the

upper panel) and place them on the bottom dock/panel in a similar

manner as can be done in Mac OS X. Just like GNOME 2.x and

KDE, Xfce may easily be customized to more closely resemble

Windows, or to be configured otherwise as desired. Xubuntu is the

Xfce version of Ubuntu, and Mythbuntu has Xfce as its

desktop. Also, Dreamlinux and VectorLinux use Xfce as their

default desktops, and many other Linux distros offer Xfce versions

as well. In many ways, Xfce looks and acts like GNOME 2.x, and



for those who like the GNOME 2.x desktop and are not completely

satisfied with the changes in the GNOME 3.x shell or Unity, Xfce

4.8 could be a great fit.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of Xfce 4.8

in Xubuntu 11.10.


Xfce menu in Xubuntu.

Following are a few applications

and components of Xfce:

Window Manager: Xfwm

File Manager: Thunar

Media Player: Parole

CD/DVD Burner: Xfburn

Task Manager: Xfce Task Manager

Recommended System Requirements for Xfce

Required RAM 192 MB


http://wiki.xfce.org/minimum_requirements [17]

LXDE [18] - When compared to

GNOME, KDE, and Xfce, LXDE

(Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment)

is the least resource-hungry, which

makes it an outstanding choice for older

computers. Additionally, it will run

extremely fast on newer computers. Even with its super-efficiency,

LXDE is still a nice and feature-rich desktop environment that has

menus which are simple and straightforward and very easy to

navigate. In its default appearance LXDE resembles older

versions of Windows (such as Windows 98 or 2000), with a single



panel at the bottom of the desktop and a menu found on the left

side of that panel, but like GNOME 2.x, KDE, and Xfce, it can be

customized in a variety of ways. Lubuntu (the LXDE version of

Ubuntu), Peppermint OS, and Knoppix are popular distros which

have LXDE as their default desktop environment. Many other

Linux distros offer LXDE versions as well.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of LXDE in

Lubuntu 11.10.


LXDE menu in Lubuntu.

Following are a few applications

and components of LXDE:

Window Manager: Openbox

File Manager: PCManFM

Task Manager: LXTask

Terminal Emulator: LXTerminal

Recommended System Requirements for LXDE

Required RAM 128 MB


http://lxde.sourceforge.net/about.html [19]

Popular Window Managers in Linux:

GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and LXDE are complete desktop

environments, each of which come with their own programs and

applications, menus, icons, a file manager, and a window

manager. Window managers are, as the term suggests, simply

used to manage the opening and closing of programs in a

graphical, point-and-click windowed desktop. Window managers

can be used as a component of a desktop environment, or they

can run on their own. GNOME 2.x uses Metacity as its default



window manager, the GNOME 3.x shell uses Mutter, KDE uses

KWin, Xfce uses Xfwm, and LXDE uses OpenBox [20]. Some

other examples of popular X11 window managers are

Fluxbox [21], IceWM [22], JWM [23], and Enlightenment [24]. To

varying degrees all of these window managers are less resource-

hungry than GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and even LXDE and are great

for extremely old computers.

Enlightenment [25] - Though Enlightenment (E17) is a window

manager, it can also be considered a

"desktop shell," and the project has

grown to encompass a number of

libraries which are together known as

EFL [26]. Because of its many features, some people even

consider Enlightenment (a.k.a. "E") to be a full-fledged desktop

environment. One very nice feature of Enlightenment is its

flexibility, which among other things allows it to run on a wide

variety of devices that includes mobile phones, game systems,

laptops, and powerful desktop computers. Enlightenment requires

less system resources than the GNOME, KDE, Xfce, or even

LXDE, yet it also is quite visually appealing and offers a lot of "eye

candy," which is amazing given its very small footprint. The

Enlightenment desktop is somewhat unique in its appearance, and

users can simply click anywhere on it to access the menu. Bodhi

Linux is a popular distro that uses Enlightenment as its default

desktop.

Click on the picture above to see a larger screenshot of

Enlightenment running in Bodhi Linux 1.1.0.

Recommended System Requirements for Enlightenment (E17) to

be fully functional on a netbook, laptop, or desktop

Required RAM 64 MB


http://www.enlightenment.org/p.php?p=about&l=en [27]



A Comparison Desktop Environment /

Window Manager RAM and CPU Usage:

Below are the results of an "unscientific" test I conducted (out of

my own curiosity) with various desktop environments and window

managers. In this test, I ran Unity in Ubuntu 11.04, and the

GNOME 3.x shell in Fedora 15, both from live CDs. Then I used

the GNOME system monitor in Unity and the GNOME 3.x shell to

record the lowest RAM and CPU usage numbers, while each

system was at idle after a fresh boot with no other open

applications. I installed and ran the other nine desktop

environments / window managers in Lubuntu 11.04 and Xubuntu

11.04 through VirtualBox and opened the LX Task Manager

(lxtask) to record the lowest RAM and CPU usage numbers, while

each system was at idle after a fresh boot with no other open

applications. As a side note, to "compare apples and oranges," I

opened Windows 7 on a newer HP laptop and recorded the

system usage numbers. While Windows 7 used 0% of the CPU at

idle from a fresh boot which was slightly better than the Linux

desktop environments or window managers, it used significantly

more RAM at 1.13 GB which is three times more than KDE 4.6.

Finally, it should be mentioned that this was simply a test I

completed out of simple curiosity, and while the results are

interesting, it is probably best for you to use the recommended

system requirements for each desktop environment as a guide

when deciding which one is best for your computer. Below are my

results for the Linux desktop environments and window managers:

Desktop Environment /

Window Manager

RAM

used

% of

CPU

(2.6

GHz

total)

used

Type

KDE 4.6 363

MB

4 % desktop environment



* Unity (Ubuntu 11.04) 271

MB


* GNOME 3.x shell 193

MB


GNOME 2.x 191

MB


Xfce 4.8 144

MB


IceWM 85 MB 2 % window manager

LXDE 85 MB 1 % desktop environment

Enlightenment (E17

Standard)

72 MB 1 % window manager /

desktop shell

Fluxbox 69 MB 1 % window manager

OpenBox 60 MB 1 % window manager

JWM 58 MB 1 % window manager

* So far, I have not been able to run the GNOME 3.x shell (except

in the "Fallback Mode") or Unity in VirtualBox on my system, even

when I increased the allocated amounts of RAM and video

memory to their maximums. So instead, I used live CDs to run

Unity in Ubuntu 11.04, and the GNOME 3.x shell in Fedora 15.

Interchangeability / Flexibility of Linux

Desktop Environments and Window

Managers:

One great feature of Linux is that

programs / applications that are made to

run in any one of these desktop

environments will normally work in the

others. For example, GNOME

Games can also run in KDE, Xfce, or

LXDE while KDE Games can likewise

run in GNOME, Xfce, and LXDE. It should also be mentioned that



many major Linux distros offer versions in multiple desktop

environments / window managers, which includes all four of the

desktop environments described above, and it is even possible to

have any combination of GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE,

Enlightenment, or other desktop environments / window managers

installed simultaneously on your Linux system. However, when

installing multiple Linux desktop environments / window managers

on the same computer, it is important to know that there will be

may redundancies between similar applications (system tools,

games, etc.) found within each.

Another outstanding feature of Linux desktop environments /

window managers is their flexibility, which gives users the ability to

customize them to look quite unique,

or to imitate the look of other operating

systems such as Windows and Mac

OS X. Click here to see a larger

screenshot of the Xfce desktop in

Xubuntu which has been made to look

similar to Mac OS X, using Docky. Like

other software in Xubuntu, Docky can be downloaded and

installed from the Ubuntu Software Center or the Synaptic

Package Manager. The default desktop in Dreamlinux looks much

like Mac OS X, and Zorin OS has a nice feature called "Look

Changer" which allows users to choose the normal GNOME

desktop, or from desktops very similar to either Windows 7 or XP.

Click here to see a larger screenshot of Zorin OS in the Windows

XP mode, but without the legion of viruses. Click here to see more

examples of customized Linux desktops [28]. Below are links to

websites which offer a wide variety of eye candy for the GNOME,

KDE, and Xfce desktops:

http://GNOME-Look.org/ [29]

http://KDE-Look.org/ [30]

http://Xfce-Look.org/ [31]

Click here for a nice comparison between KDE and GNOME

[32]. Click here to learn more about the differences between the



various Linux desktop environments in an article by

linuxreviews.org [33]. Wikipedia also provides an excellent

comparison of the various desktop environments in an article

entitled "Comparison of X Window System Desktop

Environments" [34]. Another great resource is the Windows

Managers for X website [35].



Documents

Linux Desktop Environments