Editing Desktop environment (section)

{{Short description|Implementation of graphical user interface}}
{{About|the operating system and user interface schema|desktop computing in general|desktop computer}}
[[File:MaXX.png|thumb|The MaXX desktop environment, showing various windows and icons.]]

In [[computing]], a '''desktop environment''' ('''DE''') is an implementation of the [[desktop metaphor]] made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer [[operating system]] that share a common [[graphical user interface]] (GUI), sometimes described as a [[graphical shell]]. The desktop environment was seen mostly on [[personal computer]]s until the rise of [[mobile computing]]. Desktop GUIs help the user to easily access and edit files, while they usually do not provide access to all of the features found in the underlying operating system. Instead, the traditional [[command-line interface]] (CLI) is still used when full control over the operating system is required.

A desktop environment typically consists of [[icon (computing)|icons]], [[Window (computing)|windows]], [[toolbars]], [[directory (file systems)|folders]], [[computer wallpaper|wallpapers]] and [[Widget engine|desktop widgets]] (see [[Elements of graphical user interfaces]] and [[WIMP_(computing)|WIMP]]). A GUI might also provide [[drag and drop]] functionality and other features that make the [[desktop metaphor]] more complete. A desktop environment aims 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.

While the term ''desktop environment'' originally described a style of user interfaces following the desktop metaphor, it has also come to describe the programs that realize the metaphor itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://learn.clemsonlinux.org/wiki/Window_managers_and_desktop_environments|title=Window managers and desktop environments – Linux 101|website=clemsonlinux.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704182940/http://learn.clemsonlinux.org/wiki/Window_managers_and_desktop_environments|archive-date=2008-07-04}}</ref> This usage has been popularized by projects such as the [[Common Desktop Environment]], [[KDE#KDE Projects|KDE]], and [[GNOME]].