There are 38 different desktops or window managers in Fedora 31. You could try a different one every day for a month, and still have some left over. Some have very few features. Some have so many features they are called a desktop environment. This article can’t go into detail on each, but it’s interesting to see the whole list in one place.

Criteria for desktops

To be on this list, the desktop must show up on the desktop manager’s selection list. If the desktop has more than one entry in the desktop manager list, they are counted just as that one desktop. An example is “GNOME”, “GNOME Classic” and “GNOME (Wayland).” These all show up on the desktop manager list, but they are still just GNOME.

List of desktops

9wm Emulation of the Plan 9 window manager 8 1/2 dnf install 9wm awesome Highly configurable, framework window manager for X. Fast, light and extensible https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install awesome blackbox Very small and fast Window Manager Fedora uses the maintained fork on github dnf install blackbox bspwm A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning https://github.com/windelicato/dotfiles/wiki/bspwm-for-dummies dnf install bspwm byobu Light-weight, configurable window manager built upon GNU screen dnf install byobu Cinnamon Cinnamon provides a desktop with a traditional layout, advanced features, easy to use, powerful and flexible. https://projects.linuxmint.com/cinnamon/ https://opensource.com/article/19/12/cinnamon-linux-desktop dnf group install "Cinnamon Desktop" cwm Calm Window Manager by OpenBSD project https://steemit.com/technology/@jamesdeagle/the-calm-window-manager-cwm-a-quick-start-guide dnf install cwm Deepin Deepin desktop is the desktop environment released with deepin (the linux distribution). It aims at being elegant and easy to use. dnf group install "Deepin Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "Deepin Desktop Office" "Media packages for Deepin Desktop" dwm Dynamic window manager for X https://fedoramagazine.org/lets-try-dwm-dynamic-window-manger/ https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install dwm (optional) dnf install dwm-user enlightenment Enlightenment window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-enlightenment-desktop dnf install enlightenment e16 The Enlightenment window manager, DR16 dnf install e16 (optional) dnf install e16-epplets e16-keyedit e16-themes fluxbox Window Manager based on Blackbox dnf install fluxbox (optional) dnf install fluxbox-pulseaudio fluxbox-vim-syntax fvwm Highly configurable multiple virtual desktop window manager http://www.fvwm.org/ https://opensource.com/article/19/12/fvwm-linux-desktop dnf install fvwm GNOME GNOME is a highly intuitive and user friendly desktop environment. * both X11 and wayland https://opensource.com/article/19/12/gnome-linux-desktop https://fedoramagazine.org/3-simple-and-useful-gnome-shell-extensions/ dnf group install "GNOME" (optional but large) dnf group install "Fedora Workstation" herbstluftwm A manual tiling window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/herbstluftwm-linux-desktop dnf install herbstluftwm (optional) dnf install herbstluftwm-zsh herbstluftwm-fish i3 Improved tiling window manager https://fedoramagazine.org/getting-started-i3-window-manager/ https://fedoramagazine.org/using-i3-with-multiple-monitors/ dnf install i3 (optional) dnf install i3-doc i3-ipc icewm Window manager designed for speed, usability, and consistency https://fedoramagazine.org/icewm-a-really-cool-desktop/ dnf install icewm (optional) dnf install icewm-minimal-session jwm Joe's Window Manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/joes-window-manager-linux-desktop dnf install jwm KDE Plasma Desktop The KDE Plasma Workspaces, a highly-configurable graphical user interface which includes a panel, desktop, system icons and desktop widgets, and many powerful KDE applications. * both X11 and wayland https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-kde-plasma https://fedoramagazine.org/installing-kde-plasma-5/ dnf group install "KDE Plasma Workspaces" (optional) dnf group install "KDE Applications" "KDE Educational applications" "KDE Multimedia support" "KDE Office" "KDE Telepathy" (optional for wayland) dnf install kwin-wayland plasma-workspace-wayland lumina A lightweight, portable desktop environment https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-lumina-desktop dnf install lumina-desktop (optional) dnf install lumina-* LXDE LXDE is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop dnf group install "LXDE Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "LXDE Office" "Multimedia support for LXDE" LXQt LXQt is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop dnf group install "LXQt Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "LXQt Office" "Multimedia support for LXQt" MATE MATE Desktop is based on GNOME 2 and provides a powerful graphical user interface for users who seek a simple easy to use traditional desktop interface. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/mate-linux-desktop https://fedoramagazine.org/installing-another-desktop/ dnf group install "MATE Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "MATE Applications" musca A simple dynamic window manager fox X dnf install musca openbox A highly configurable and standards-compliant X11 window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/openbox-linux-desktop https://fedoramagazine.org/openbox-fedora/ dnf install openbox (optional) dnf install openbox-kde openbox-theme-mistral-thin-dark Pantheon The Pantheon desktop environment is the DE that powers elementaryOS. https://github.com/elementary https://opensource.com/article/19/12/pantheon-linux-desktop dnf group install "Pantheon Desktop" (optional) dnf install elementary-capnet-assist elementary-greeter elementary-shortcut-overlay pekwm A small and flexible window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/pekwm-linux-desktop dnf install pekwm qtile A pure-Python tiling window manager https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install qtile ratpoison Minimalistic window manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/ratpoison-linux-desktop dnf install ratpoison sawfish An extensible window manager for the X Window System dnf install sawfish (optional) dnf install sawfish-pager spectrwm Minimalist tiling window manager written in C dnf install spectrwm Sugar A software playground for learning about learning. * Possibly the most unique desktop of this list. dnf group install "Sugar Desktop Environment" (optional) dnf group install "Additional Sugar Activities" sway i3-compatible window manager for Wayland * Wayland only https://fedoramagazine.org/setting-up-the-sway-window-manager-on-fedora/ https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install sway twm X.Org X11 twm window manager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twm https://opensource.com/article/19/12/twm-linux-desktop dnf install xorg-x11-twm WindowMaker A fast, feature rich Window Manager https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-window-maker-desktop dnf install WindowMaker (optional) dnf install WindowMaker-extra wmx A really simple window manager for X dnf install wmx XFCE A lightweight desktop environment that works well on low end machines. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/xfce-linux-desktop dnf group install "Xfce Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "Applications for the Xfce Desktop" "Extra plugins for the Xfce panel" "Multimedia support for Xfce" "Xfce Office" xmonad A tiling window manager dnf install xmonad (optional) dnf install xmonad-mate

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.