In graphical computing, a desktop environment (DE) commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface (GUI) that is based on the desktop metaphor which can be seen on most modern personal computers today. [http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/~l0f0954/academic/cpsc610/hw2-3.htm Desktop Metaphor ] Desktop environments are the most popular alternative to the older command line interface (CLI) which today is generally limited in use to computer professionals.

A desktop environment typically consists of icons, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers, and desktop widgets. (See WIMP.)

Software which provides a desktop environment might also provide drag and drop functionality and other features which make the desktop metaphor more complete. On the whole, a desktop environment is to be an intuitive way for the user to interact with the computer using concepts which are similar to those used when interacting with the physical world, such as buttons and windows.

Conflicting terminology

The term desktop environment did not originally refer to software, and was adopted as a way to describe a particular style of user interface provided by that software. Desktop environment therefore is first and foremost describing the style of a user interface, in that it is like a desktop.

However a program, or set of programs which simulate a desktop environment may sometimes themselves be referred to as a desktop environment, with a desktop environment being considered either a window manager, or a suite of programs which includes a window manager. There is some disagreement on precisely what constitutes a desktop environment, and how one distinguishes one from a window manager.

While historically, and even logically, this may seem incorrect as a suite of applications are obviously not required to provide desktop metaphor, suites such as the The K Desktop Environment have popularized this usage, and may provide a more complete desktop environment consisting of a number of supporting programs, configuration tools, and in the case of KDE a large number of other applications such as office and productivity software, and games.

A more correct term for application suites like KDE might be something more along the lines of a desktop manager. However for the moment the term desktop environment in relation to computer science both refers to a type of user interface, and to a lesser extent a particular class of window manager.

Desktop environment implementation

On a system which offers a desktop environment, a window manager in conjunction with applications written using a widget toolkit are generally responsible for the majority of what the user sees. A windowing system of some sort generally interfaces directly with the underlying operating system and libraries. This provides support for graphical hardware, pointing devices, and keyboards. The window manager generally runs on top of this windowing system. While the windowing system may provide some window management functionality, this functionality is still considered to be part of the window manager, which simply happens to have been provided by the windowing system.