What is the difference between GNOME, KDE, XFCE, and LXDE? | Linux Today

What is the difference between GNOME, KDE, XFCE, and LXDE?

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Aug 8, 2011

[ Thanks to linuxaria for this link. ]

In Linux, there are so many choices, and this includes
the desktop environments and window managers. Four of the most
popular desktop environments in Linux are GNOME, KDE, XFCE, and
LXDE. All four offer sophisticated point-and-click graphical user
interfaces (GUI) which are on par with the desktop environments
found in Windows and Mac OS X. When you ask different people which
of these four is best, you will likely get many different answers.
So which is the best between GNOME, KDE, XFCE, and
LXDE?

Complete Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

Linux Today Logo

LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.