EMZETT.Linux desktop environments at a glance
In short: A desktop environment (DE) is the graphical interface of Linux: windows, panels, menus, file manager and settings. You can choose and change it freely. The best known are KDE Plasma, GNOME, Xfce, Cinnamon, MATE and LXQt.
In more detail: On Windows and macOS the interface is fixed, on Linux it is an exchangeable package. The same distribution can come with different desktops, for example Ubuntu (GNOME), Kubuntu (KDE), Xubuntu (Xfce) and Lubuntu (LXQt).
In detail
| Desktop | Toolkit | Style | Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[kde-plasma | KDE Plasma]] | Qt | classic, very customisable |
| [[gnome | GNOME]] | GTK | modern, tidy, keyboard-friendly |
| [[xfce | Xfce]] | GTK | classic, lean |
| [[cinnamon | Cinnamon]] | GTK | like Windows 7 |
| [[mate | MATE]] | GTK | like GNOME 2 |
| [[lxqt | LXQt]] | Qt | minimal |
| [[cosmic | COSMIC]] | Rust (iced) | new, tiling |
- Components: window manager/compositor, panel, application launcher, file manager, settings, login screen, default applications.
- Choosing: old computer: Xfce or LXQt. Lots of customisation: Plasma. Calm workflow: GNOME. Windows-like: Cinnamon or Plasma.
- Installing several: possible, you choose the session at login. Duplicate programs can appear though.
- Worth knowing: X11 and Wayland, Display manager and login screen, Window managers and tiling window managers.
See also: Linux, Linux distributions