Ubuntu – Switching window manager/desktop environments

configurationdesktop-environmentswindow-manager

In general what is the approach to switch the desktop environment or window manager on Ubuntu? The main difference between stock Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Lubuntu is supposedly the use of Unity vs. KDE vs. LXDE.

However, in order to try various desktop environments and window managers I don't want to have to reinstall the respective flavor from scratch just to get a particular desktop environments or window manager. There probably is an easier method than that.

The question: How can I easily test different desktop environments and respective compatible window managers (say KDE, LXDE, Unity, GNOME, XFCE and StumpWM)?

Best Answer

Just install the one that you want. For example to install LXDE, just press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the command below.

sudo apt-get install lxde

for XFCE

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

for Gnome

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

Once you install the one you want, log out, choose the one you want, and log back in.

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