Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Linux, Open Source
Flipping the Linux switch: Desktop environments vs. window managers
Picture this: It's late at night. You've restarted your computer. The optical drive is whirring contentedly, but you have butterflies in your stomach. Tonight is the night you install Linux for the first time.You choose your language, and then your keyboard layout. This is pretty easy, so far. A partitioner works its magic on your hard disk, either resizing your Windows partition or wiping it completely.
Suddenly you are blindsided by the question: Which default desktop environment would you like to install?
Do you know? Do you care? What in the blazes is a desktop environment, anyway? How is that different from a window manager? When is it more appropriate to use one over the other?
After spending the better part of an hour on 