Editing Oracle Solaris (section)

==Desktop environments==
[[File:Sol24-telnet.png|alt=Solaris 2.4 (86Box) connected through Telnet on a virtual machine running Dell Unix. (also on 86Box)|thumb|Solaris 2.4 via Telnet]]
[[Image:openwindows.jpg|thumb|250px|[[olvwm]] with [[OpenWindows]] on Solaris]]
Early releases of Solaris used [[OpenWindows]] as the standard desktop environment. In Solaris 2.0 to 2.2, OpenWindows supported both [[NeWS]] and [[X Window System|X]] applications, and provided [[backward compatibility]] for [[SunView]] applications from Sun's older desktop environment. NeWS allowed applications to be built in an [[object-oriented]] way using [[PostScript]], a common printing language released in 1982. The [[X Window System]] originated from [[MIT]]'s [[Project Athena]] in 1984 and allowed for the display of an application to be disconnected from the machine where the application was running, separated by a network connection. Sun's original bundled SunView application suite was ported to X.

Sun later dropped support for legacy SunView applications and NeWS with OpenWindows 3.3, which shipped with Solaris 2.3, and switched to [[X11R5]] with [[Display Postscript]] support. The graphical look and feel remained based upon [[OPEN LOOK]]. OpenWindows 3.6.2 was the last release under Solaris 8. The OPEN LOOK Window Manager ([[olwm]]) with other OPEN LOOK specific applications were dropped in Solaris 9, but support libraries were still bundled, providing long term binary backwards compatibility with existing applications. The OPEN LOOK Virtual Window Manager (olvwm) can still be downloaded for Solaris from sunfreeware and works on releases as recent as Solaris 10.

[[Image:CDE running on Solaris 10.png|thumb|250px|The [[Common Desktop Environment]] (CDE) was [[open-source license|open sourced]] in August 2012. This is a screenshot of CDE running on Solaris 10.]]

Sun and other Unix vendors created an industry alliance to standardize Unix desktops. As a member of the [[Common Open Software Environment]] (COSE) initiative, Sun helped co-develop the [[Common Desktop Environment]] (CDE). This was an initiative to create a standard Unix desktop environment. Each vendor contributed different components: [[Hewlett-Packard]] contributed the [[X window manager|window manager]], [[IBM]] provided the [[file manager]], and Sun provided the [[e-mail]] and calendar facilities as well as drag-and-drop support ([[ToolTalk]]). This new desktop environment was based upon the [[Motif (software)|Motif]] look and feel and the old OPEN LOOK desktop environment was considered legacy. CDE unified Unix desktops across multiple [[Open system (computing)|open system]] vendors. CDE was available as an unbundled add-on for Solaris 2.4 and 2.5, and was included in Solaris 2.6 through 10.

[[Image:Java Desktop running on Solaris 10.png|thumb|250px|Screenshot of the [[Java Desktop System]] (JDS) running on Solaris 10]]

In 2001, Sun issued a preview release of the open-source desktop environment [[GNOME]] 1.4, based on the [[GTK+]] toolkit, for Solaris 8.<ref name="gnome1.4">{{cite web
  | url = http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2001-May/msg00046.html
  | title = Sun Announces GNOME 1.4 for Solaris
  | last = Mannina
  | first = Scott
  | date = May 23, 2001
  | access-date = February 9, 2009
  | archive-date = October 15, 2007
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071015182943/http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2001-May/msg00046.html
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> Solaris 9 8/03 introduced GNOME 2.0 as an alternative to CDE. Solaris 10 includes Sun's [[Java Desktop System]] (JDS), which is based on GNOME and comes with a large set of applications, including [[StarOffice]], Sun's [[office suite]]. Sun describes JDS as a "major component" of Solaris 10.<ref>{{cite web
  | url = http://www.sun.com/software/javadesktopsystem/
  | title = Sun Java Desktop System
  | publisher = Sun Microsystems Inc
  | date = May 22, 2006
  | access-date = March 10, 2007
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070315004836/http://www.sun.com/software/javadesktopsystem/
  | archive-date = March 15, 2007
}}</ref> The Java Desktop System is not included in Solaris 11 which instead ships with a stock version of GNOME.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23824_01/html/E24456/desktop-123.html|title=Oracle Solaris 11 Desktop Feature Summary - Transitioning From Oracle Solaris 10 to Oracle Solaris 11|date=March 1, 2011|publisher=[[Oracle Corporation]]|access-date=November 24, 2014|archive-date=October 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017172858/http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23824_01/html/E24456/desktop-123.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Likewise, CDE applications are no longer included in Solaris 11, but many libraries remain for binary backwards compatibility.

The open source desktop environments [[KDE]] and [[Xfce]], along with numerous other [[window managers]], also compile and run on recent versions of Solaris.

Sun was investing in a new desktop environment called [[Project Looking Glass]] since 2003. The project has been inactive since late 2006.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = https://lg3d-core.dev.java.net/
 |title       = Project Looking Glass Homepage
 |access-date  = January 6, 2010
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070712044749/https://lg3d-core.dev.java.net/
 |archive-date = July 12, 2007
}}</ref>