GNOME Shell

GNOME Shell is the graphical shell of the GNOMEdesktop environment starting with version 3, which was released on April 6, 2011. It provides basic functions like launching applications and switching between windows. GNOME Shell replaced GNOME Panel and some ancillary components of GNOME 2.

GNOME Shell is written in C and JavaScript as a plugin for Mutter.

In contrast to the KDE Plasma Workspaces, a software framework intended to facilitate the creation of multiple graphical shells for different devices, the GNOME Shell is intended to be used on desktop computers with large screens operated via keyboard and mouse, as well as portable computers with smaller screens operated via their keyboard, touchpad or touchscreen.