I don't know, it's out! Linux Desktop Area 7 trends

Nowadays, with the rapid development of mobile interconnection, desktop application environment seems to have become the former technology, and gradually replaced by mobile devices. However, it is a state that is not known to Linux desktop developers. Linux offers more choices than ever before in an age when the desktop should be obsolete. Linux users are not prepared to replace workstations and laptops with tablets or mobile phones.

I don't know, it's out! Linux Desktop Area 7 trends to mention Linux, today's popular Linux desktop is not five years ago system platform. If you look closely at the current Linux desktop, there are at least seven trends that can be seen, including several trends that have prevailed in the past:

1, provide the choice

Gnome and KDE occupy the Linux desktop market three-fourths of the day has long gone. Today, there are at least seven types of desktop environments that are widely used: cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, LXDE, MATE, Unity, and Xfce, which are popular interchangeably, especially for users using GNOME applications.

2. Consider design and ease of use

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth, who claimed in 08 to develop an interface comparable to Apple, has not developed an ideal unified interface, but this move allows programmers to focus on ease of use and design. Gnome has the most extensive experience and expertise in design, but no mainstream desktop environment ignores design today. GNOME, unity, and KDE even emit their own-brand fonts.

3, the pace of innovation slowed

KDE 4, GNOME 3 and unity have always had a big gap with the classic desktop, and many users are not buying their innovative response. As the new version solves the problem, some of the users ' ideas are changing, but after the problems of the innovation response lag, the developers are not introducing too much change. Today's developers are more likely to work on simplifying the code, optimizing the interface, rather than introducing new functionality features.

4. Return icon

Innovations for the desktop include removing icons on the desktop or panel, especially user-specified icons. Half of the users didn't care about the decision, but the other half objected. This change may be enough to explain why KDE and Xfce have two top-ranked desktops that never cancel the icon.

5. Choose Classic Desktop

Typically, the classic desktop includes panels, menus, and display window workspaces that have been standard for nearly 20 years. But from 2008 to 2011, Linux Desktop developers wanted technology to extend and challenge the classic desktop, a move that many users objected to.

Today, four of the six desktop environments offer classic desktops by default, and KDE expands this concept. One of the "sticks" is gnome, but its extension allows users to quickly create a classic desktop, most users will choose this method. Unity is the only real not available, survey shows only nearly 10% users of the choice.

Unity Mobile Device Design (photo source cnx-software.com)

6, Abandon Mobile interface

With the proliferation of mobile phones and tablets, their interface became a benchmark for desktop environments. In the past, users were familiar with mobile-device interfaces, and users were actually bothered by the changing screen. Today, only unity uses mobile device design, mainly because of Ubuntu's vision: All devices use the same interface.

Other Linux desktop environments do not have this plan, and even most of them stop scaling to mobile devices. GNOME has not yet implemented plans to launch its mobile desktop, and KDE designs netbooks and tablet interfaces only for workspace layouts. Users do not want to change their mobile devices because of the addition of a new desktop, which may explain to some extent why Linux is abandoning the mobile interface.

7, customization into the top priority

Customization is important for Linux desktop users. The latest XFCE version increases the number of customization options, while the Linux Mint cinnamon and mate add more customization features to each release, thus increasing market share. In addition, KDE, the most popular desktop, has more options than any other desktop.

Back to the original, five years ago, it was predicted that cloud-based applications and interacting with users would be one of the big trends of the 2015. Although Chromebook network notebooks are popular, none of the leading Linux desktops relies on cloud services, and apparently prefer to view cloud services as a common service.

As a result, these latest trends imply a renewed focus on desktop fundamentals, away from the positive innovations of the previous five years. Some opportunities may have been lost, such as extending into the mobile interface, but most users have lost the controversy over the past, and a smarter development application dominates the market.