The Unix Desktop Environment (UDE) is a

desktop environment 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 graphica ...

for the

X Window System The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wit ...

. Given its efficient and lightweight design it can be used on almost any

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

, mostly without any

porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

effort.

User interface

UDE's

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

philosophy is quite different from that of other

s. It is designed to be used very efficiently after a short learning phase. There is no

taskbar A taskbar is an element of a graphical user interface which has various purposes. It typically shows which programs are currently running. The specific design and layout of the taskbar varies between individual operating systems, but generally a ...

or desktop panel or equivalent. Windows lack a title bar and as such there are no buttons to close, resize, iconify or maximize windows on the window borders. These buttons are replaced by the so-called hex menu or honeycomb that appears when the user clicks on the window border (See picture). User interaction works entirely by using the different mouse buttons on window borders and the desktop background. Combinations of mouse clicks can trigger more complex actions such as moving a window from one

workspace Workspace is a term used in various branches of engineering and economic development. Business development Workspace refers to small premises provided, often by local authorities or economic development agencies, to help new businesses to estab ...

to another or loading multiple programs (or multiple instances of a single program) at a time. For that reason, efficient usage of UDE is only possible using a three-button mouse. As of today, UDE offers only very basic support for keyboard shortcuts. The window manager is uwm (unrelated to the older uwm from 1985 or previous).

External links

Official website
*http://www.agutscher.de/udepatch.html *http://www.agutscher.de/udethemes.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ude Free desktop environments de:UWM (Computer)#UDE_Window_Manager