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Desktop Environments and Linux @ Linux Guide:

Linux is well known for being open and extremely customizable. Well thats because of its desktop environments and their work on making the interface clean, easy and better for the user. Here are the main ones:

Budgie:

  • Developer: Buddies for Budgie
  • State: In active development
  • Languages: Vala

The Budgie Desktop is a feature-rich, modern desktop environment designed to keep out the way of the user. Budgie is based on GNOME. Budgie provides an easy to use interface for everyone.

  • Raven provides an all-in-one center for accessing your calendar, controlling sound output and input (including per-app volume control), media playback and more.

Budgie has all the features GNOME has (some may be removed or etc) but have been modified for Budgie's use.

Budgie Install Guide:

Arch-based Systems:

  • To install the budgie package group, which includes first-party applications such as a screensaver, execute sudo pacman -S budgie.
  • Alternatively, sudo pacman -S budgie-desktop will install the standalone desktop.
  • Recommended optional packages include the Arc GTK theme, the Papirus icon theme, and the Network Manager applet. Executing sudo pacman -S arc-gtk-theme papirus-icon-theme network-manager-applet will install them.

Fedora:

Fedora has a spin with Budgie Desktop instead of GNOME. Click Here

Ubuntu:

There is a community ISO that contains Ubuntu with Budgie Desktop instead of GNOME. Click Here

Void Linux:

Do sudo xbps-install budgie-desktop

OpenSUSE:

Budgie can be selected during the OpenSUSE installation or installed afterward using sudo zypper install budgie-desktop.

Cinnamon:

  • Developer: Linux Mint Team
  • State: In active development
  • Languages: C, Javascript and Python

Made by the Team behind Linux Mint. It is a folk of GNOME but heavily modified for ease of use and to be more like Windows. So linux newbies can move from Windows to Linux with the UI not changing in a drastic way. GitHub Repo

Panel

Its "Panel". The Taskbar at the bottom is very much Windows like and thats on purpose for newbies and its user-base. Newbies can then have some similar things for UI/UX.

Spices

Spices are Cinnamon's version of Themes. You can find the repo by Clicking Here

Cosmic:

  • Developer: System 76
  • State: In active development
  • Languages: Javascript & Rust

Cosmic is a new desktop environment made by the people behind Pop_OS (System76). Their desktop environment was a heavily modified version of GNOME. So instead of heavy modifications every release, they made their own desktop environment.

Info

A beta version of Pop_OS 24.04 is available with System 76's new desktop environment. Click Here

GNOME :

  • Developer: Gnome Project (Owned by the GNOME Foundation)
  • State: In active development
  • Languages: C, C++, C#, Python, JavaScript, HTML and more.

GNOME is a desktop environment designed to be simple, beautiful, and elegant. It is the main desktop environment of Fedora and Ubuntu and others. It is a very popular desktop environment within Linux/BSD. With many Distros opting using GNOME because of how widespread popular it is throughout the Linux World. GNOME began development in 1997 by Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena, with GNOME 1, the first major release of GNOME, being released in 1999. Website

GTK

GTK (formerly the GIMP Toolkit) is a widget toolkit that was created for GIMP (GIMP is a graphics editor like Photoshop but open-source and linux friendly), but is known as the widget toolkit for GNOME. GTK is one of the most commonly used GUI frameworks, alongside the Qt framework, Cocoa for macOS and Windows Forms for Windows alongside others. It is used in apps like GIMP, OBS and others.

KDE:

More commonly known as KDE Plasma

  • Developer: KDE
  • State: In active Development
  • Languages:: C++, QML

KDE (The K desktop environment) for BSD & Linux Operating Systems. The KDE project was founded on the idea that it should be a "complete graphical environment," implying the creation and development of a fully featured Desktop Environment that can do most things that a GUI should do alongside more. KDE has not only delivered on that idea but expands on its vision. This has allowed KDE to become feature rich. With its list of features increasing. Website

KDE is merely a GUI or a DE. Its vast variety of built in apps have made it simply amazing.

  1. Dolphin (Its own file manager)
  2. Discover (Its own App Store for Flatpacks)
  3. Krita (A fully-featured suite for Artistry such as painting and even animation)
  4. Kdenlive (Its own video-editor)
  5. Ark (A file compression Tool)
  6. Kate (A Text Editor)
  7. Fielight (A storage management tool)

Plus more. Over 200 apps!!!!

KDE'S Edit Mode:

This mode is just too amazing to not mention so here. KDE has a cool mode which we believe should be in all Operating Systems that has "Widgets" called Edit Mode. Edit Mode basically allows you full access to configure your desktop's widgets and panels.

Desktop Effects

Another Cool feature KDE added after Plasma 5 dropped was Desktop Effects. Plasma 5 came with the deprecation of many widgets. Desktop Effects allows you to tweak and modify certain specific settings through your desktop.

  1. Accessibility
  2. Focus (Of the Windows)
  3. Tools (Debugging - Dev Related)
  4. Desktop Switching Animation (virtual)
  5. Window Management.
  6. Window Open & Close Animations

XFCE:

  • Developer: Free software community
  • State: In active Development
  • Languages: C

Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment aiming to be fast for weaker hardware while still remaining user friendly. The original author of Xfce was Olivier Fourdan and the first release of Xfce came out in 1997. Website

It has all the key features you need.

  1. Window(s) Manager
  2. Desktop Manager
  3. Panel
  4. Session Manager
  5. Application Finder
  6. File Manager (Thunar)
  7. Settings Manager