15/05/2014

Best desktop environment in Linux

Hello Buddies,
We are here once again. This time we are here to tell you the importance of Desktop environment (DE) in Linux.

What is a Desktop Environment?
Have you ever used windows OS or Mac OSX. I am sure that you have at least used windows OS. As you can see there's already a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in windows, that allows you to interact with your files and do work in easier way. It also let you play with the graphical window and doing drag and drop things too. Well a Desktop Environment  in Linux works on kinda same principle. A desktop environment has a minimal X window system which allows users to play some window on top of command based Linux OS. So in straight word a desktop environment is the graphical user interface (GUI) we see on screen when we use Linux.

So what is the default Desktop Environment of Linux?
Seriously never ask this question to a Linux geek. The thing is Linux actually don't have a default DE.
The different distro makers use different DE in there ditros. That's right you read it correct.!!!! Different Desktop Environments. Linux don't have a single Desktop Environment, there are many of them. And the fun factor is that we can choose any of them any install in our system whenever we want. And even more fun factor is that we can use multiple DE in single machine. No need to delete previous, all DE can run simultaneously. You will get and option to select your choice of DE when you log in to your Linux system, ofcource for this option you must have multiple DE installed.

I got your point but how many Desktop Environment are there? and can they provide us a good user interface? -Question may arise!
Sir, let me tell you one thing. You gonna enjoy a lot trying different DE. There are many DE and the new ones keep coming as day passes. We will be talking about some important DE, and be assured that you will be experiencing some amazing user interface ever made.
  • Gnome -   Gnome is one of the heaviest and most rich interfaced DE. It consists of window manager and GTK+ themes and some cool icons and amazing effects to make your desktop an Eye-candy. Gnome 3 is something interesting to try. It includes important utilities for regular use like calculator, web browser, some interesting games and other useful thing. The Gnome DE is really heavy and need 3D acceleration so old machines and especially netbooks will be to light to handle gnome. So of your PC have good specs, high graphics (can be done in moderate too) then Gnome will be an interesting choice for you. The latest release is 3.12 you can grab the ISO from official site of gnome or install it via terminal. 
OpenSUSE 13.1 running on Gnome DE

OpenSUSE 13.1 running on Gnome DE
  •     Unity - Unity is the default desktop environment of Ubuntu. It is also a good DE which also use 3D acceleration. Unity 7 is the latest version which can be seen in 14.04 Trusty Tahr. It gives a unique user interface. It includes a beautifully designed side bar which can be tweaked for more amazing experience after that it includes a beautiful launcher and global search. The new Unity 7 comes with a new web browser. Well if you gonna use Ubuntu and don't use Unity then you gonna miss a lot for sure.
Ubuntu Trusty Tahr running on Unity DE
  • KDE -  Now here comes another giant in desktop environments, KDE. This DE is serious one in Eye-candy factor. the new plasma desktop will sink you in the world of transparency. There are interesting desktop widgets, there is transparency, there is ease of access and the most important thing is  there's a bouncy ball on your desktop too :p
OpenSUSE 13.1 running on KDE
OpenSUSE 13.1 running on KDE
  • Xfce -  This is one of the most lightweight DE for Linux. Lightweight but don't take it lightly sir, it is very much capable to do heavy work too. Xfce was especially designed for speed, lightweight thing and compatibility with oldies and netbooks too. it gives and window manager and few interesting tweaks, the menu bar is on top left corner and there's a launcher at the middle-bottom part. So if you own a oldie or netbook then Xfce will be an amazing choice. But that doesn't mean the god systems can't use it. It will run very smoothly on high end PC too.
Fedora 20 running on Xfce
  • LXDE - Well here it is another popular desktop environment for it's speed and lightweight thing. Yup the Lxde it is very fast and light enough to run very smoothly on netbooks. Lubuntu, a forked version of Ubuntu comes with preinstalled Lxde environment. Lxde is all about speed, the user interface contains window manager, menu bar is at bottom. Overall this environment is very good who wants fast paced experience and to those who owns ntebooks.
Lubuntu 12.04 running on Lxde
  • Cinnamon - Originally cinnamon is based on gnome environments. But now that it's separated from gnome, cinnamon 2.0 have brought amazing things. The interface is very much similar to windows. Cinnamon is very easy to use. The launcher is beautiful integrated and categorized according to needs. Cinnamon 2.0 includes some interesting sound effects plus it uses 3D acceleration so hard chances for netbookers.
Linux Mint 16 running on Cinnamon 2.0
  • Mate - Well here is another lightweight desktop environment. It's not as light as xfce ot Lxde but it can run on most of netbooks. Mate has some amazing things like the launcher. the launcher is rich and interestingly organised. Menu bar is at bottom. Mate is somewhat similar to cinnamon but it's more lightweight and doesn't use 3D acceleration so it's faster.
Linux Mint 15 running on Mate


   So this was an introduction of some Desktop Environments. You can choose any of these popular and amazing DE(s).
Even after covering a bunch of DE(s),we got a list which are still left to introduce here.
Like Icevm, enlightment, jolicloud, fluxbox ect.We are thinking to cover them in PART-2 possibly.Which are also worth to try.
 So this was all pals,we will be back again with more cool information about Linux world very soon. So stay tuned and subscribe to us to keep updated with us,And have fun with Linux.
Ciao.

Hot Widget

#htmlcaption1 Switch To Linux Linux Brings Power #htmlcaption2 Thank You for being here! Stay Connected!