Look and feel of the desktop environment.

Some of the differences which can influence the choice of desktop environment are: Running a package designed for one desktop (which essentially means that it's written using the same libraries as the desktop itself is) within a different desktop can be visually displeasing, as well as incurring the RAM penalty of loading libraries that wouldn't otherwise be required. In practice, software written on major libraries can be run under any desktop environment. Notably, nothing prevents the user from installing any number of software libraries of their choice. X Window System desktop environments timeline. This usually means that virtually every component of the desktop environment including the file manager explicitly depends on that library for its functioning. KDE Software Compilation and GNOME are written almost completely on special software libraries Qt and GTK respectively.

This contrasts the behaviour of WMs like Metacity and KWin which were not written with the objective of operating independently of a DE. Additional hand-picked applications add functionality such as a panel and volume management which gives them some of the qualities of a full DE. There are some exceptions: Window managers like Fluxbox, wmii and Ratpoison operate independently of a desktop environment and were written with this objective in mind.

They may optionally include word processors, CD/DVD writing applications, web browsers and e-mail clients. DEs usually provide utilities to set wallpapers and screensavers, display icons on the desktop, and perform some administrative tasks. It provides file operations like viewing, copying or moving, changing permissions and deleting. This application manages files/ folders and presents them in a way that the user finds convenient. Another important element of a DE is the file manager. It manages the various application windows, keeping track of which ones are open and providing features to switch between them. A window manager creates a certain way for application windows to present themselves to the user. A fundamental part of a DE is the window manager or WM.

See also: Elements of graphical user interfacesĪ desktop environment (DE) can be broken up into several components that function independently and interact with one another to provide the look and feel and functionality of the desktop environment.

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