On 14/09/2025 15:02, Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming wrote:
On Friday, September 5th, 2025 at 8:32 PM, Joe <joe@jretrading.com> wrote:On Fri, 05 Sep 2025 11:56:53 +0000 Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming teo.en.ming@protonmail.com wrote:Can I install all of the desktop environments and switch between them as and when I like?I believe so, you can certainly install a few. Gnome and KDE both take up a lot of disc space, but that's not really a problem nowadays. It is possible to operate with no DE, just with a window manager, and you can also install a few of those and select them with the login manager. But if you are comparing desktops, it seems likely that a window manager alone would not suit you. Most applications that come with particular DEs can also be installed and run with other DEs. I use the Gnome alacarte menu manager, but I don't have most of Gnome installed and use Xfce4 DE. I have the Gnome Nautilus file manager installed, but normally use Thunar, the Xfce4 one. -- JoeWhat are the differences between desktop environment and window manager?
A Window Manager is a single application. It's function is to draw the window decorations around other applications and to position the windows. If you think of a typical GUI application like a web browser or file manager, the application itself is responsible for the Menu bar, the status bar and everything in between, while the Window Manager will draw the "maximise" button, the "minimise" button, the title, as well as the little border all around it.
Window Managers also handle placement of the window. This allows the arrangement of applications to happen consistently according to the user's wishes. A Window Manager might choose to place windows in somewhat arbitrary positions on screen (a floating Window Manager) or it may maximise all applications and subdivide the screen as new applications open (a tiling Window Manager). A Window Manager might offer the ability to remember the positions of two or more sets of applications and easily switch between them (Virtual Desktops). A Window Manager can also implement all sorts of eye-candy for animating the transitions between window states.
A Desktop Environment, however, is an entire suite of applications designed to provide a reasonable level of functionality (and with a consistent style). So a Desktop Environment typically consists of a Window Manager, but also some sort of taskbar/deskbar/menu (i.e. a method to launch applications other than using the command line). There is almost always some application for painting a desktop background, too. But a Desktop Environment often goes bigger than this; there's a file manager, and a notepad, maybe even a web browser.
Regards, Mr. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming Targeted Individuals Singapore
Attachment:
OpenPGP_signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature