If you are a heavy Windows users and moving to Linux then you must be finding it difficult to work with Linux through the console. There are thousands of commands to work and manipulate your Linux machine but being a normal PC user you do not expect to memorize all those commands. A normal user always wants to perform all tasks in most simplified ways. And you must be a fan of Windows or MAC as they provide such a nice and intuitive user interface. But the demerit with Windows and (no idea about MAC) is that you are not allowed to change the Graphical User Interface. You can just add themes and wallaper and change icons but you cannot use a totally different GUI or desktop. In this aspect Linux offers a lot of flexibility mostly due to the open source nature of this OS. In Linux you have the flexibility to install a totally different GUI apart from the KDE and GNOME the default desktop that comes with most of the Linux distribution. Here I am listing out a couple of Linux GUI.

KDE:

KDE, stands for K Desktop Environment. It is a desktop system for Unix and Linux based operating system. Like the parent Operating System on which it runs, the KDE is open source. It comes with most of the Linux distribution. However the latest version can be downloaded from the KDE download page. It has all the toolbars, menu, icons and graphical utilities to make computing under Linux easier for a novice.

GNOME:

GNOME the GNU Network Object Model Environment, is another desktop environment for Linux and it is shipped with many of the Linux distribution like KDE. GNOME 2.22 is the latest version of the GNOME Desktop. It has all the common tools like mail, browser, games, multimedia a computer user expects to perform on a PC. This one is also free and Open Source and many language version is available.

XPDe:

XP look alike linux desktop

This one is a boon for people who are changing from Windows to Linux. It offers a XP look alike user Interface for Linux so Windows users will not find it much difficult while working with a Linux machine. This is specifically designed for Linux on X86 based machine. If you are thinking that you can emulate the Windows application on Linux then you may be disappointed as the functionality is not yet built on to it.

IceWM:

IceWM is a window manager for the X Window System. The goal of IceWM is speed, simplicity, and not getting in the user’s way. It offers full support for keyboard, Alt+Tab switching, task bar, multiple workspace and themes.

Window Maker:

Window Maker is an X11 window manager originally designed to provide integration support for the GNUstep Desktop Environment. It is feature rich, easy to use and faster in operation. It is compatible with other desktops like KDE and GNOME.

Xfce:

It is a very lightweight desktop environment for Unix and it’s sister Operating systems. It supports menu, icons, themes and freedesktop specification compliant. It offers drag and Drop functionality. It is available in 40 different language. Xfce 4.4 provides Vista Aero like transparency feature.

Blackbox:

This one is considered as the fastest Window manager for X Windows. However it offers the dullest and boring user interface. Blackbox is very minimalist in its approach as a window manager. It doesn’t do desktop icons and shortcuts, keyboard handling, flashy menus, tools and gadgets. All of these are available through 3rd-party tools and add-ons, which you can add to your environment as you please.

Among all the above GUI, my personal favorite are KDE, XPDe and Xfce. What about you guys?

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