KDE and GNOME Desktops

The two most popular desktops, KDE and GNOME, are discussed in this book. KDE and GNOME look very similar. Figure 6-4 shows the KDE and GNOME desktops provided by Fedora.

Figure 6-4. KDE and GNOME desktops for Fedora.

KDE and GNOME for Fedora are very similar. Both have "trash" and "home" icons, but GNOME has two additional icons. The panel has the same icons. One reason both look so similar is that both desktops are very customizable. Thus, the Fedora desktops are both configured in a manner deemed useful by the Fedora developers. Desktops configured for different distributions can be customized differently, but still are very similar. KDE desktops distributed with Fedora and Mandrake are shown in Figure 6-5.

Figure 6-5. KDE desktops for Fedora and Mandrake.

The two KDE desktops have different icons, with Mandrake providing several more. The panel is different. For instance, the leftmost panel icon for Fedora is a red fedora. Yet, the basic anatomy is the same.