Desktop environments¶
GNOME 3¶
GNOME 3 is the default desktop environment on university Linux desktops. It is the most feature complete and useful desktop and as such as we highly recommend using it.
GNOME 3, like many recent desktop environments, does not use the classic Windows style task bar model, or the Mac OS X style dock model. It can however be heavily customised by the GNOME Tweak Tool and GNOME Extensions.
Xfce 4¶
XFCE is a lightweight alternative to GNOME, whilst still utilising a lot of the core components of GNOME. It can be heavily customised and is considered a more traditional desktop environment. If you do not like GNOME 3 then we recommend using XFCE instead.
You can use Desktop Manager to install XFCE, or use the following command in a terminal:
sudo yum groupinstall xfce-desktop
KDE Plasma¶
KDE Plasma is the latest version of the K Desktop Environment, an alternative desktop platform based on the Qt framework. Unlike KDE 3, the KDE Plasma environment is not well regarded, and it lacks a lot of features and maturity of both GNOME and XFCE. Although available to install we do not recommend using KDE Plasma.
You can use Desktop Manager to install KDE, or use the following command in a terminal:
sudo yum groupinstall kde-desktop-environment
MATE¶
MATE is a fork of the GNOME 2 project, and as such it is essentially an updated GNOME 2 desktop environment. If you liked GNOME 2, and wish to continue using it, then MATE may suit you. The latest version of MATE - 1.16 - is available and despite being based on GNOME 2 has been largely rewritten in GTK3.
You can use Desktop Manager to install MATE, or use the following command in a terminal:
sudo yum groupinstall kde-desktop-environment
i3¶
i3 is a tiling window manager similar to wmii. It is not a full desktop environment and it is intended for advanced users. Unless you have experience with ultra lightweight tiling window managers we do not recommend using i3.
You can use Desktop Manager to install i3, or use the following command in a terminal:
sudo yum install i3
Others¶
Several other desktops are available:
- Cinnamon:
sudo yum install cinnamon-desktop - LXDE / LXQt:
sudo yum install lxqt-session lxqt-panel lxqt-config lxqt-powermanagement lxqt-wallet lxqt-policykit
Several other window managers are available:
- xmonad:
sudo yum install xmonad - fluxbox:
sudo yum install fluxbox - openbox:
sudo yum install openbox - IceWM:
sudo yum install icewm - Matchbox:
sudo yum install matchbox-window-manager - WindowMaker:
sudo yum install WindowMaker - spectrwm:
sudo yum install spectrwm - fvwm:
sudo yum install fvwm - pekwm:
sudo yum install pekwm - vtwm:
sudo yum install vtwm