Common Desktop Environment
Shares rank 19 of 24 desktop environments by recommenders
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.
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.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Appealing old-school visual style
“I really find that old-school CDE interface really appealing, visually.”
Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “VCF Southwest 2026, but Edited on Silicon Graphics for '90s TV [video]” “have always found the color scheme so unique and pleasing”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Common Desktop Environment available now as open-source” Runs well and works
“Both run well and, surprisingly, good ol' CDE behaves better in some respects.”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail” “It works, and it would be fitting.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “CDE – Common Desktop Environment – Release 2.5.3”
Other desktop environments people recommend
The four most recommended other desktop environments, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KDE Plasma | 650 | 264 | 71% | 13 | 2 yrs79 owners | Approved |
| GNOME | 340 | 464 | 42% | 12 | 5 yrs29 owners | — |
| Xfce | 183 | 48 | 79% | 12 | 10 yrs29 owners | Approved |
| COSMIC desktop | 75 | 28 | 73% | 12 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Common Desktop EnvironmentThis page | 6 | 2 | 75% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“have always found the color scheme so unique and pleasing”
“I really find that old-school CDE interface really appealing, visually.”
“Both run well and, surprisingly, good ol' CDE behaves better in some respects.”
“It’s a great desktop environment.”
“Still my favourite Unix desktop.”
“It works, and it would be fitting.”
“IBM made it super suit and tie. Geriatric colour schemes with dark colours, formal serif fonts and anything cool removed.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.