# Common Desktop Environment

6 Hacker News commenters recommended Common Desktop Environment and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free Unix desktop that people still like for its distinctive old-school look and pleasing colours. One critic calls its dark colours and formal serif fonts dated.

## Why people recommend it

- Appealing old-school visual style (2 comments): "I really find that old-school CDE interface really appealing, visually." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50234038)) "have always found the color scheme so unique and pleasing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50320036))
- Runs well and works (2 comments): "Both run well and, surprisingly, good ol' CDE behaves better in some respects." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978173)) "It works, and it would be fitting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46067914))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [KDE Plasma](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kde-plasma.md): 650 recommend
- [GNOME](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gnome.md): 340 recommend
- [Xfce](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xfce.md): 183 recommend
- [COSMIC desktop](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmic-desktop-environment.md): 75 recommend
- [Cinnamon desktop environment](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cinnamon.md): 57 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Common Desktop Environment", https://hackerapproved.com/p/common-desktop-environment/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).