Linux as a desktop System

Linux has made its mark as a server operating system. In fact, it has been called "The Internet's Operating System" because many Internet Service Providers and Web sites make use of Linux. As a desktop operating system it left much to be desired. In the last year, however, this has changed Linux may soon be coming to a desktop near you.

The main reason that Linux has not been a popular choice for the desktop is that it has not had a modern graphical user interface. Recently, two contenders have arisen to take on this challenge. KDE (the K Desktop Environment) was the first, and as such is currently slightly more stable. GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment, pronounced guh-nome) is rapidly catching up to KDE's vaunted stability, and its proponents promise that it will be extremely customizable and flexible, while also giving the user the ability to change nearly the entire look and feel of the desktop at will.

Both KDE and GNOME are suites of programs that operate on top of the X windows interface that is part of Linux and UNIX, making it more attractive to users migrating from more popular desktop operating systems.

Development work on KDE began in 1996, with the eventual goal of creating a contemporary desktop environment for UNIX workstations, including Linux. It bears a striking resemblance to current versions of Microsoft Windows, with a task bar, desktop icons, property dialog boxes, and so on. However, the developers are quick to point out that KDE is not just a Win9x or MacOS clone. Instead, they intend to "glean the best features from all existing desktop environments" so that it becomes a truly unique mix of the best features of popular operating systems.

One of the main objections to KDE among the Linux user community has been that KDE is not completely free (it is based on a windowing toolkit that has a relatively restrictive license). In addition, programmers wishing to program in KDE are limited to a single programming language. GNOME, on the other hand, was designed from the start to be completely free, and accessible to programmers in a variety of programming languages.

Like KDE, GNOME can appear very much like a Windows or Macintosh desktop. Unlike KDE, however, GNOME is very much more customizable in terms of its on-screen appearance. GNOME allows users to choose from many different themes, each of which has a different style for displaying everything from window titles to the taskbar itself.

Even in their current relatively early versions, both KDE and GNOME are very usable and provide a much more pleasant look-and- feel than was previously available to Linux users.