Desktop environments Archive

e16-0.16.8.5 Released

Thom Holwerda 2006-12-18 Desktop environments 30 Comments

The Enlightenment team has released version e16-0.16.8.5 of its window manager for the X windowing system. "Add Xft font support; add _NET_WM_SYNC_REQUEST support; enable setting focused/non-focused opacity independently (Grant Weir); enable window matches on override-redirect windows (for compositing options); by default set opaque and fading off on xscreensaver window; various minor bug fixes and enhancements."

Enlightenment 0.16.8.4 Released

Thom Holwerda 2006-10-16 Desktop environments 10 Comments

The Enlightenment team has released 0.16.8.4, and as usual, this is mainly a bugfix and maintenance release. You can grab the release from the Sourceforge page.

The Open Source CDE and Motif Petition

Submitted by Peter Howkins 2006-10-12 Desktop environments 52 Comments

In an attempt to convince The Open Group that they finally want to fully Open Source Motif and CDE Peter Howkins has started a petition to help gauge how much interest there is. CDE, the Common Desktop Enviroment, was the default desktop on several commercial UNIX distributions. Motif is a X Windows widget API used in many programs, including CDE and other projects such as nedit and DDD. Howkins is not going to try to convince anyone to use either of them, but if you use them and would like to see them Open Sourced please sign the petition. For more background information about CDE and this petition visit the petition site or go straight to signing the petition.

FVWM-Crystal 3.0.4: Speed and Transparency

Submitted by michuk 2006-09-16 Desktop environments 17 Comments

FVWM-Crystal is an eye-candy, functional and ultra-fast desktop environment for GNU/Linux and Unix, based on FVWM. Crystal can be used even on very old machines, thus it is a noticeable alternative to popular desktop choices like XFCE or Fluxbox.

EDE 1.1. released

Submitted by anonymous 2006-09-03 Desktop environments 14 Comments

After a year from last 1.0.4 version, new one brings a lot of changes, new features and bugfixes. Details about changes and download links can be found here.

E17 Quickstart Guide; Enlightenment 0.16.8.2 Released

Submitted by falko 2006-07-19 Desktop environments 22 Comments

Enlightenment 0.16.8.2 has been released, and it includes some bugfixes and speed improvements. Remember that E16 is the 'old' Enlightenment; E17 is the new one, and there's a short article on HowtoForge explaining how to set it up: "Enlightenment 17 or E17 as it is generally called, is a cool Window Manager for X. The latest stable version of Enlightenment is E16 (0.16.8.2). In this article we will talk about the latest CVS build available (0.16.999.023)."

Portland Looks to Unite Linux GUIs

Thom Holwerda 2006-04-04 Desktop environments 28 Comments

OSDL coders are looking to solve one of Linux's greatest problems for developers: the battle between GNOME and KDE. The Open Source Developer Labs is previewing work that attempts to make life easier for software companies by bridging GNOME and KDE, the two competing graphical interfaces most widely used with Linux. The effort, called Project Portland, began showing its first software tools on Tuesday in conjunction with this week's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in Boston. Using them, a software company can write a single software package that works using either of the prevailing graphical interfaces.

e16-0.16.8.1 Released; Enlightenment CVS Back up

Thom Holwerda 2006-03-30 Desktop environments 9 Comments

The Enlightenment team has released a new version of e16, e16-0.16.8.1. This is mainly a bugfix release. You can download it from the download page (well, if it'll appear there, 0.16.8 isn't listed either), or wait until your distributor packages it for you. In addition, Rasterman announced a few days ago that CVS was back up.

Matchbox WM 1.0 Released

Eugenia Loli 2006-03-11 Desktop environments 8 Comments

Matchbox is an Open Source base environment for the X Window System running on non-desktop embedded platforms such as handhelds, set-top boxes, kiosks and anything else for which screen space, input mechanisms or system resources are limited. Information on the 1.0 release is here.

KDE, GNOME Collaborating on Free Desktop Promotion

Submitted by thebluesgnr 2006-02-18 Desktop environments 29 Comments

"A quiet revolution is taking place on a young mailing list, one that overturns years of false enmity and makes perfect sense to most free software users. Having competed for the free desktop crown since 1997, collaborating on code but never on promotion, KDE and GNOME have launched an initiative to market and promote the free desktop together."

E16.8 Released

Thom Holwerda 2006-02-09 Desktop environments 26 Comments

Enlightenment 0.16.8 (now known simply as 'E16') has been released. This new release comes with a built-in composite manager, a systray, simplified configuration files, and session scripting. E16.8 is incompatible with configuration settings and custom menu configuration files from earlier versions, and as such they will have to be changed in order to work with E16.8.

Blackbox 0.70.1 Released

Submitted by cprpop 2005-11-03 Desktop environments 27 Comments

A new release of Blackbox in the latest 0.70 series is now out: 0.70.1 cumulates new features and bugfixes added to CVS over the last 8 months. Read on for a list of the most notable changes.

Using the Fluxbox Window Manager

Submitted by Jophn Deo 2005-09-10 Desktop environments 39 Comments

"If you're planning on using Fluxbox, the key is, like everything in Linux is that you learn a little something and have fun doing it. Experiment with different styles and configuration. That is one of the advantages to this type of window manager - you can make it look like you want."

EDE 1.0.4 Released

Submitted by anonymous 2005-09-01 Desktop environments 51 Comments

EDE 1.0.4 is a new version of EDE (Equinox Desktop Environment) which brings full FreeBSD support, various bugfixes and new features. The Equinox Desktop Environment is a small desktop environment, built to be simple, to have a familiar look and feel and to be reasonably fast.

Review: Enlightenment 17

Thom Holwerda 2005-08-24 Desktop environments 67 Comments

Here is a review of E17. "On the whole, I am very happy with the new Enlightenment. On their homepage, the Enlightenment team states "We believe your desktop should not be an eyesore. It should be functional AND beautiful." They are doing well on both fronts." Screenshots included.

Customizing FVWM

Thom Holwerda 2005-08-08 Desktop environments 29 Comments

FVWM, the F Virtual Windows Manager, is a window manager for computers running the X Window System. While KDE and GNOME offer more features, they are also heavy on memory usage. FVWM is light and fast, and you can customize it to meet your needs.

Elive Beta: Enlightenment Sans Commitment

Submitted by anonymous 2005-07-19 Desktop environments 40 Comments

Elive, the Debian based Enlightenment (16.7 and 17) liveCD project has released version 0.1 for download. See the package and features list for more information. A screenshot tour is also available.

WindowMaker 0.92 Released

Submitted by OpenGLCoder 2005-07-05 Desktop environments 19 Comments

WindowMaker 0.92 has been released. Many bugs have been fixed, among other things. You can download it here.

X Window Manager Benchmarks (E17 on Top)

Guest post by Hisham Mardam Bey 2005-06-09 Desktop environments 125 Comments

After benchmarking an extensive set of Window Managers for X, we have found that Enlightenment DR17 comes out on top in terms of speed. The benchmark was performed on old (FVWM) and new (Metacity, new KDE / KWin) window managers and rated them in terms of window mapping and response time. The bechmark can be found here (both results and source).

Mezzo’s revolutionary desktop environment?

Submitted by Omega 2005-05-16 Desktop environments 25 Comments

Have a look here for an appliance-like desktop environment.