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This article analyzes "what are the common desktop environments of Linux systems?" The content is detailed and easy to understand, "what are the common desktop environments of the Linux system?" interested friends can follow the editor's ideas to read it slowly and deeply. I hope it will be helpful to everyone after reading. Let's follow the editor to learn more about the desktop environment commonly used in Linux systems.

Although the Linux system works in command-line mode, the desktop environment is also indispensable.

1. KDE I want to start with the fifth, although I have considered telling you the first place directly. Haha, this is KDE, which you may not be interested in, but the development of KDE began in 1996, and the first version was released in 1998. KDE's most customizable desktop, which means you can customize anything. It is developed on the basis of modern technologies like QT. Many popular Linux releases provide KDE, such as Ubuntu,Linux Mint,OpenSUSE,Fedora,kubuntu,PCLinuxOS and others.

KDE is the easiest to customize of all desktop environments. Like any other desktop environment, you need plug-ins, gadgets, and configuration tools to customize your environment. KDE packages all of these plug-ins and tools into system settings. With the Advanced configuration Manager, all user requirements can be customized without the need for any tripartite tools to beautify and configure.

With many improvements, KDE's Plasma5 is the most advanced DE, focusing on visual experience (better launcher, menus and notifications) and ease of use between different devices. Plasma is also faster and more compatible with older or lower-equipped hardware.

Some of the default applications in the KDE environment are-Dolphin (file manager), Konsole (terminal), Kate (text editor), Gwenview (picture viewer), Okular (document, PDF viewer), Digikam (graphics editing management tool), KMail (email client), Quassel (IRC client), K3b (DVD burning application), Krunner (launcher) and so on.

Advantages:

The most advanced and powerful desktop environment

Highly customizable

Fashionable and beautiful

Good compatibility

Disadvantages:

Some components such as Kmail are too complex for the average user.

2. MATE the second place is MATE. The MATE (Spanish pronunciation: [roommate]) desktop environment is a branch created based on code that GNOME 2 no longer maintains. It is named after Yerba mate ①, a South American plant, and mate ②, a tea made from herbs. Use a new name instead of GNOME to avoid conflicts with GNOME 3 components. MATE was created by a Gnome 2 user who didn't like the transition from Gnome shell to a modern desktop environment.

MATE gives users a sense of using the old desktop environment, but over time, the interface has improved a lot. MATE is also very good for low-configuration computers. If you have an old or slower computer, please use MATE.

MATE will also be provided with many popular Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Mageia, Debian, and so on. If you read my post Release of Ubuntu 15.04 Beta 1, you will see that Ubuntu MATE has released ③ in official form for the first time.

Translator's note:

Yerba mate: perennial woody plant of South America.

Mate tea: tea made from Yerba mate leaves, generally known as "Madai tea" in China.

Official release: it means "official release" and "official release". It should be inferred from the author's post that it means "official release".

"Welcome the first official release of Ubuntu MATE. Now it will be easier for users to keep their software up-to-date, and all the components are already in the Ubuntu software repository."

Applications packaged with MATE include Caja (file manager), Pluma (text editor), Atril (document viewer), Eye of MATE (image viewer), and so on. It is a simple, lightweight desktop environment for users who do not need other flashy, versatile desktop environments.

Advantages:

Very good support for older / slower computers

Lightweight desktop environment

Disadvantages:

I don't know. If you know, please comment below. The MATE works fine.

3. The third place in Cinnamon is Cinnamon. Cinnamon is another desktop environment created by Linux Mint Team for users who are dissatisfied with Gnome after MATE. But unlike MATE, Cinnamon is created based on Gnome 3. Cinnamon is still very new, so the development is very active; but as a new product, there is no lack of features for this amazing desktop environment.

Cinnamon has all the features that desktop environments like Gnome and Unity don't have. Cinnamon is a highly customizable desktop environment and does not require any additional plug-ins, gadgets, or configuration tools to customize the desktop. Cinnamon can download and install themes through the built-in configuration manager without opening a web browser at all.

With these amazing and essential features, Cinnamon is very convenient for any new Linux user. Many users give up using Linux because they don't understand how Linux works, and I strongly recommend that beginners start with the Cinnamon desktop environment.

Many Linux distributions provide their own Cinnamon style support, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Gentoo, Arch Linux, and Cinnamon is the default desktop environment for Linux Mint.

Advantages:

Extreme beauty

Easy to use

Derived core applications make Gnome easier to use

Highly customizable

Disadvantages:

Sometimes there are more bug.

4. Gnome # 4 in my list is Gnome. The first release of Gnome was in 1999. Gnome provides a simple and classic desktop experience that doesn't have enough customization options. But in 2011 Gnome introduced a new design, GNOME 3, and the traditional desktop environment has been replaced by GNOME Shell. The end caused resentment among Gnome users and many developers, which led to the creation of many other DEs, such as MAT E and Cinnamon.

But even so, Gnome is popular and widely used. Gnome contains simple core ideas and faster DE, which is why Gnome is still simple and fast. Customization can be achieved through third-party applications and tools.

Gnome is for those users who are not inclined to tune more systems. That's why Gnome doesn't even include some simple tuning options, changing themes or even fonts. For these basic adjustments, the user needs to install gnome-tweak-tool. So the default overall Gnome is not customizable, but this can be done through third-party applications / tools.

Gnome is the default desktop environment for Fedora and can be seen in several popular Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu,Debian,OpenSUSE and more.

Advantages:

Simple and easy to use

Functions can be extended through plug-ins

Disadvantages:

Lack of many features (functions) provided in other desktop environments

Plug-in management is lame.

5. Unity Unity is a graphical user interface (shell,a shell is a user interface for access to an operating system's services) developed by Canonical behind Ubuntu. Unity runs on top of the Gnomes desktop environment and uses all of Gnome's core applications to build the environment.

Unity was originally developed to take full advantage of the limited screen size of netbooks. But the Gnome development team probably didn't take the advice of the Ubuntu team and followed its own approach. At this time, in order to get rid of this shackle, Canonical developed its own shell (Unity) to better meet its own needs.

Unity was first released in 2010, and Unity has undergone several major improvements since then. Today, Unity can be installed on other distributions like other desktop environments.

Unity is a different user interface. Unity has a launcher on the left, and the searchable icon at the top of the initiator is called 'Dash'. When a file is found in Dash, it gives results not only from the hard drive but also from online resources, such as Google Cloud disk, Facebook, Picasa,Flick, and so on.

Unity can choose to hide and show the initiator when touching the sidebar. Users can increase / decrease the sensitivity of the initiator directory display.

Unity is simple and fast, but Unity doesn't provide many custom settings for desktops on top of the system. Such as installing themes and customizing different options. Also, the system directory should be displayed all the time or not, or "Click minimize from the initiator icon", the user needs to install third-party tools. CCSM and Unity Tweak Tool are very popular custom tools on the Unity desktop environment.

Unlike KDE, Unity does not give an option to block / disable notifications on Unity. There are a lot of questions about "how to disable Unity notifications" in Web search. Although this can be very difficult for new users.

Add auto-hide directory this function, major releases do not provide official support, Unity provides seems to be a bit counterproductive.

Advantages:

Intuitive

New technology similar to HUD

Support customization through third-party applications

Disadvantages:

Notification function of ugly implementation

Very limited custom tools

Contradictory UI

On the Linux system commonly used desktop environment to share here, I hope that the above content can make you improve. If you want to learn more knowledge, please pay more attention to the editor's updates. Thank you for following the website!

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