Old School Interface

[Runwiththewolf]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to Linux and to this forum, and I have a trivial question that I just can't find an answer to on the net.

I'm considering giving Linux a shot, but I would like to know whether you can find a graphic interface (icon style, menu bar, etc) along the lines of Windows 98, Me or 2000. An "Old School" interface if you will.
I just don't like the recent trend in consumer-end IT to have everything shiny, glossy, and transparent, that's all.


On a side note, I've heard time and time again that with Linux you can do EVERYTHING YOU WANT. I'm sure that's addressed somewhere else on these forums or on the internet, but would someone give me a general idea of what that means?

Thanks!

[Nagarjuna]

Hey, there! Welcome to the world of Linux

Hmmm, you could try the XFCE desktop environment. It's very lightweight, utilitarian and minimalistic. No flash, bling or glitz at all!

You may be interested in the Xubuntu distrobution, which is Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop environment instead of Gnome.

They say you can do anything in Linux because it is completely open! This means there is no software developer/company keeping you from accessing the source code of the applications on your Linux machine, so you can literally change anything you wish if you take the time to learn how.

So, if you wanted, you can take the route of creating your very own desktop environment instead of using XFCE or Gnome. The possibilities are endless!

I hope this helps.

[sgosnell]

There are many gnome desktop themes available, including some that look like old Windows. Google for Redmond. You can also change the appearance of your desktop easily, by right-clicking anywhere on the blank desktop and selecting "Change desktop background". Click on the Themes tab, select a theme you want to modify, and change it however you like. There are many, many options there.

I don't know that you can do 'anything you want', but you can certainly do anything you can do with Windows or OSX, plus more. All the software is free, so you can try out anything you like, and never worry about it being crippled, having it expire, or having to pay for it. It just works. There is an equivalent for almost everything available for Windows, if you look around.

[rokytnji]

Icewm or XFCE depending on how you set them up.

Puppy does a good job of old school desktop also with JWM or Icewm with rox pinbaord desktop.

To elaborate on what sgosnell said

make your gnome like windows 7 Am!NeS0Ft's blog

XpGnome - Make Linux Look like Windows XP | Phrank's Ubuntu Blog

Windows XP Clone Settings (Plus Vista) Xfce-Look.org

Just to show how easy it was. I downloaded a Windows theme for my Icewm Desktop. Took just a few minutes to do and change look.
screenshotxp.jpg

[oz]

On a side note, I've heard time and time again that with Linux you can do EVERYTHING YOU WANT.

Hello and welcome to the forums!

I personally would never say that someone can do anything they want with Linux, but I do believe that a person will find it extremely customizable and that as long as they comply with any licensing agreements, they can do anything they want within their individual skill set and the limits of the computer hardware being used. Of course, some of that might hold true with all operating systems.

Either way, we hope you'll have fun with Linux.

[Runwiththewolf]

Thank you everyone for your input, I really appreciate it. I like some of the desktop environments you have linked, and I also found out about "Equinox Desktop Environment".

I have a question, however. Is every distribution compatible with any desktop environment?

[oz]

Is every distribution compatible with any desktop environment?

Any desktop environment designed to work on Linux should work on any distribution once the correct files and configurations are in place, and if the hardware is powerful enough to handle the weight of the desktop environment. For example, Ubuntu uses Gnome by default, while Kubuntu uses KDE. However, you can install either DE on either distro if done properly. That said, some DEs could prove to be more problematic trying to get them installed on certain distros.

You can find more Linux desktop environments and windows managers for your consideration here:

Window Managers for X


Edit: actually, that example that I gave above is not all that good because the base system to Ubuntu and Kubuntu are so similar anyway, but hopefully you get the idea.