Desktop
From TheLinuxVault
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One of the great things about Linux, is that there are multiple choices users have for their desktop environments. While this can sometimes be confusing for new users coming from Windows or Macintosh systems, most Linux users are grateful for the options available to them. There is much debate over which is the "best" desktop environment for Linux, but like most things, it comes down to a matter of personal taste.
[edit] The X Window System
The X Window System (or more commonly referred to as simply "X") is the bottom layer of all Linux desktops. X is what provides Linux with a graphical user environment where a user can click on things with a mouse, and applications exist as windows on the desktop. X by itself is very basic, and is almost always used along with a separate window manager and desktop environment running on top of it.
[edit] Window Managers
Main article with a list of window managers: Window manager
A window manager is what normally runs on top of X to provide a set of functionality to the windows drawn using X. A window manager customizes and controls things like multi-desktop support, maximizing/minimizing behavior, look and feel of windows, as well as many other things. Like most things in Linux, there are multiple window managers to choose from, and you can have more than one installed on a system. There are also a couple 3D window managers that have become popular recently. These window managers have gained much popularity with their impressive 3D appearance and desktop effects, that by far out-compete the 3D desktop offerings of both Microsoft Windows and Apple OSX.
[edit] Desktop Environments
Main article with a list of desktop environments: Desktop environment
A desktop environment provides the layout and end user look and feel to the desktop. The desktop environment provides things such as panels and menus, as well as overriding much of the default window behavior.
For those most familiar with Windows, elements such as such as the task bar, start menu, alt-tab task switcher, and even Explorer would generally be considered part of a desktop environment in Linux.
In reality, a desktop environment consists of many different but cohesive pieces of software which can include:
- Window manager
- Panels and menus
- Application launchers and switchers
- Global hotkeys
- Control panels
- Configuration (think Windows registry, but easier)
- Accessories (calculators, clocks, monitors, search tools)
- File manager
There are two main desktop environments for Linux, but that is not to say that others don't exist. The two main ones are GNOME and KDE. KDE is the older of the two, and is based off of the QT widget set produced by TrollTech. GNOME uses the GTK+ widget set originally developed for use with the The GIMP (a popular open source image editing application.)
While these are the two most popular desktop environments, there are other available, such as CDE and Xfce. A user can even install multiple desktop environments side by side and choose to log in to one or the other, or many at the same time. Furthermore, a user's choice of software is not limited to their choice of desktop environment. For example, an application written using QT widgets will run just fine under GNOME, and an application written using GTK+ widgets will run just as well under KDE. As long as the system has the required libraries to run the widget set the program uses, there will be no limitations.
