Common Desktop Environment
(CDE)
Sun Microsystems was the first company to use a windowing environment
in conjunction with the UNIX operating system. In 1993, a consortium
of UNIX platform vendors was formed to develop an integrated,
standard, and consistent graphical user interface desktop environment.
The contributors included Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell, and Sun
Microsystems, along with many other companies and members of the OSF
(Open Software Foundation), X/Open, and the X Consortium. CDE is
Motif-based and users of other UNIX and personal computer (PC)
desktops should be comfortable using CDE. Many of the features are
common to other desktop environments. Common Desktop Environment (CDE)
offers the following for users:
- Provides a Graphical User Interface
(GUI) between the user and the operating system
- Includes built-in menus for users to
select and run utilities and programs without using Solaris
Environment commands
- Provides over 300 utility programs
and tools
- Enables users to control multiple
documents or applications on the screen at the same time
- Controls activities in windows using
both the mouse and the keyboard
The Figure represents some of the major
programs and tools available with CDE including Calendar, File
Management, Email, Printer Management and Notes. CDE is discussed in
greater detail in subsequent chapters.
Open Windows
Open Windows is Sun's original graphical user interface developed for
the Solaris environment. It is similar to CDE but is proprietary and
not as well supported. The user has a choice when logging in to a
Solaris workstation to select either CDE or Open Windows.
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Lab
Activity
(Adobe
Acrobat Reader, 18 kB) |
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UNIX
Computing Environment
This
lab exercise will review UNIX computing
environment terminology and help to reinforce
concepts introduced in chapter 1. You will also
investigate the use of UNIX at your institution or
another organization and research web sites to see
what organizations are using Solaris UNIX. |
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