Desktop environment - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Desktop_environment

numerous technologies common to all Unix-like desktop environments, most obviously the X
Window System. Accordingly, the freedesktop.org project was established as an informal
collaboration zone with the goal being to reduce duplication of effort.

As GNOME and KDE focus on high-performance computers, users of less powerful or older
computers often prefer alternative desktop environments specifically created for low-performance
systems. Most commonly used lightweight desktop environments include LXDE and Xfce; they both
use GTK+, which is the same underlying toolkit GNOME uses. The MATE desktop environment, a
fork of GNOME 2, is comparable to Xfce in its use of RAM and processor cycles, but is often
considered more as an alternative to other lightweight desktop environments.

For a while, GNOME and KDE enjoyed the status of the most popular Linux desktop environments;
later, other desktop environments grew in popularity. In April 2011, GNOME introduced a new
interface concept with its version 3, while a popular Linux distribution Ubuntu introduced its own
new desktop environment, Unity. Some users preferred to keep the traditional interface concept of
GNOME 2, resulting in the creation of MATE as a GNOME 2 fork.[17]

Examples of desktop environments

The most common desktop environment on personal computers is Windows Shell in Microsoft
Windows. Microsoft has made significant efforts in making Windows shell visually pleasing. As a
result, Microsoft has introduced theme support in windows 98, the various Windows XP visual styles,
the Aero brand in Windows Vista, the Microsoft design language (codenamed "Metro") in Windows 8,
and the Fluent Design System and Windows Spotlight in Windows 10. Windows shell can be extended
via Shell extensions.

Mainstream desktop environments for Unix-like operating systems use the X Window System, and
include KDE, GNOME, Xfce, LXDE, and Aqua, any of which may be selected by users and are not tied
exclusively to the operating system in use.

A number of other desktop environments also exist, including (but not limited to) CDE, EDE, GEM,
IRIX Interactive Desktop, Sun's Java Desktop System, Jesktop, Mezzo, Project Looking Glass, ROX
Desktop, UDE, Xito, XFast. Moreover, there exists FVWM-Crystal, which consists of a powerful
configuration for the FVWM window manager, a theme and further adds, altogether forming a
"construction kit" for building up a desktop environment.

X window managers that are meant to be usable stand-alone — without another desktop environment
— also include elements reminiscent of those found in typical desktop environments, most
prominently Enlightenment. Other examples include OpenBox, Fluxbox, WindowLab, Fvwm, as well
as Window Maker and AfterStep, which both feature the NeXTSTEP GUI look and feel. However
newer versions of some operating systems make self configure.

The Amiga approach to desktop environment was noteworthy: the original Workbench desktop
environment in AmigaOS evolved through time to originate an entire family of descendants and
alternative desktop solutions. Some of those descendants are the Scalos,[18] the Ambient desktop of
MorphOS, and the Wanderer desktop of the AROS open source OS. WindowLab also contains
features reminiscent of the Amiga UI. Third-party Directory Opus software, which was originally just
a navigational file manager program, evolved to become a complete Amiga desktop replacement
called Directory Opus Magellan.

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