Cairo Shell AlternativesDesktop Environments and other similar apps like Cairo Shell

Cairo Shell is described as 'Cairo is a desktop environment for Windows. Its goal is to develop a desktop experience that increases productivity and advances current technology standards' and is a popular desktop environment in the os & utilities category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Cairo Shell for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, BSD, Mac and Wayland apps. The best Cairo Shell alternative is KDE Plasma, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Cairo Shell are Xfce, Seelen UI, Open Shell and Noctalia.

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Alternatives list

  1. KDE Plasma icon
     485 likes

    Plasma is a cross-device work environment by the KDE Community where trust is put on the user's capacity to best define their own workflow and preferences.

    30 KDE Plasma alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • postmarketOS
    • openSUSE
    • Arch Linux
    • Fedora
    • FreeBSD
    • SteamOS
    • Wayland
     
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  2. Xfce icon
     383 likes

    Xfce (pronounced as four individual letters) is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris and BSD. It aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use.

    29 Xfce alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  3. Seelen UI icon
     47 likes

    Web-based customizable desktop environment integrated with Windows 10/11 offers tiling window manager, intuitive configuration, widget and menu adjustments, theme personalization, taskbar layout options, wallpaper management, streamlined multitasking, and workflow optimization.

    12 Seelen UI alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  4. Open Shell icon
     114 likes

    Open Shell is a fork of the Classic Shell project for Windows that getting back the classic start menu to modern versions of Microsoft Windows.

    41 Open Shell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  5. Noctalia icon
     15 likes

    Noctalia is a beautiful, minimal desktop shell for Wayland built with Quickshell. It’s designed with a “quiet by design” philosophy, providing a complete desktop experience that stays out of your way.

    38 Noctalia alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  6. LXQt icon
     55 likes

    LXQt is the Qt port and the upcoming version of LXDE, the Lightweight Desktop Environment. It is the product of the merge between the LXDE-Qt and the .

    27 LXQt alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  7. LXDE icon
     123 likes

    The "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment" is an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  8. CoverFlowFinder icon
     10 likes

    Brings iconic 3D Cover Flow file browsing to macOS, includes dual pane navigation, Quick Look integration, sidebar access to volumes, instant file sorting, context menus, type-ahead search, familiar Finder-like interface, and open source availability.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  9. Budgie icon
     47 likes

    The Budgie Desktop is a feature-rich, modern desktop designed to keep out the way of the user. It consists of a number of components to provide a more complete desktop experience.

    29 Budgie alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  10. Enlightenment icon
     53 likes

    Enlightenment is a Window Manager, Compositor and Minimal Desktop for Linux (the primary platform), BSD and any other compatible UNIX system.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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