In general there are two flavors of X desktop. The two most famous "heavyweight" desktop projects are GNOME and KDE; these include both a _desktop environment_ and an _application development framework_. A desktop environment includes a window manager, help browser, file manager, task bar, and so on. A development framework includes any number of libraries to ease application development, perhaps most importantly a GUI toolkit. GNOME and KDE are the desktops with the most support from Linux distribution vendors. 

The second flavor of X desktop includes a desktop environment only; no development framework is included. The line between this flavor of desktop and a plain old window manager is a bit blurry; many people would describe Xfce, [[WindowMaker|WindowMaker]], and Enlightenment as desktops in this category. 

Desktops can be mixed-and-matched; for example, you can run Enlightenment together with GNOME or KDE components; you can run applications developed with the GNOME or KDE development framework under any of the X desktops. One purpose of freedesktop.org is to ensure that this mixing-and-matching remains possible, and promote more of it. Read our [[Mission Statement|MissionStatement]] for details. The executive summary is that people or organizations developing applications do not need to worry about which desktop their users will select. _Applications_ which work with any desktop are easy to write. 

One way to think about the mission of freedesktop.org is this: to ensure that the different development frameworks aren't user-visible. 


### X Desktops with a Development Framework

* [[Backbone|http://www.nongnu.org/backbone/]]:  A GNUstep-based desktop environment 
* [[Étoilé|http://www.etoile-project.org/]]: another GNUstep-based Desktop Environment 
* [[GNOME|http://www.gnome.org]] [[(developer site)|http://developer.gnome.org]]: The GNU Network Object Model Environment 
* [[GNUstep|http://www.gnustep.org/]]: The GNU [[OpenStep|http://www.gnustep.org/resources/OpenStepSpec/OpenStepSpec.html]] Implementation 
* [[KDE|http://www.kde.org]] [[(developer site)|http://techbase.kde.org]]: The K Desktop Environment 
* [[Unity|http://unity.ubuntu.com/]]: A desktop environment built on GNOME 

### Plain Desktop Environments

* [[AfterStep|http://www.afterstep.org/]]: Window manager that combines flexibility with elegant look 
* [[AntiRight|http://www.nongnu.org/antiright]]: Lightweight scripted environment that uses the GTK+ toolkit 
* [[awesome|http://awesome.naquadah.org]]: Highly configurable, next generation framework window manager 
* [[EDE|http://equinox-project.org/]]: small desktop environment, built to be simple and fast 
* [[Enlightenment|http://www.enlightenment.org/]]: The Enlightenment Window Manager 
* [[fluxbox|http://fluxbox.org/]]: Lightweight WM with support for tabs 
* [[FVWM|http://fvwm.org/]]: An extremely customizable window manager and some desktop applications 
* [[GoFun|http://gofun.berlios.de/]]: Lightweight Desktop Entry Specification based desktop 
* [[IceWM|http://icewm.org/]]: Window manager designed to be small, fast and lightweight 
* [[LxDE|http://lxde.sourceforge.net]]: provide a new desktop environment which is lightweight and fast 
* [[Matchbox|http://matchbox.handhelds.org/]]: Environment for non-desktop systems, such as handheld computers 
* [[MATE|http://www.mate-desktop.org]]: MATE Desktop Environment is the fork of GNOME2 
* [[ROX|http://rox.sourceforge.net/]]: ROX is a free, GTK+-based, fully drag-and-drop desktop 
* [[UDE|http://udeproject.sourceforge.net/]]: attempt to create new WM with original Look'n'Feel 
* [[WindowMaker|http://www.windowmaker.org/]]: Window manager intended to work with GNUstep 
* [[Xfce|http://www.xfce.org/]]: Lightweight GTK+-based environment 
* [[XPde|http://www.xpde.com/]]: A Windows XP-like desktop environment designed for Windows users migrating to Linux 

### 3D Desktop Environments

* [[Compiz|http://www.compiz.org/]]: OpenGL-based 3D window manager to extend existing desktop environments like Gnome and KDE 
* [[Metisse|http://insitu.lri.fr/~chapuis/metisse/index.html]]: Metisse 3D Desktop project 
* [[True3D*Shell|http://www.sixtyfourbit.org/3dshell.htm]]: open source 3D desktop environment 

### Classic Desktop Environments

* [[CDE|http://www.opengroup.org/cde/]]: Common Desktop Environment, the traditional proprietary environment based on Motif 
* [[TkDesk|http://tkdesk.sourceforge.net/]]: TkDesk predates most of the environments on this page