MATE icon
MATE icon

MATE

 141 likes

Many users of GNOME 2 dislike GNOME 3. MATE is a fork of the good old GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

MATE screenshot 1

License model

  • FreeOpen Source

Application type

Country of Origin

  • International

Platforms

  • Linux
  • BSD
  • FreeBSD
  • OpenIndiana
  • GhostBSD
4.2 / 5 Avg rating (4)
141likes
4comments
0news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features
  1.  Desktop Environment

 Tags

  • gnome-2
  • fork
  • gnome-fork

MATE News & Activities

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Recent activities

  • braky updated MATE
    about 1 month ago
  • NEOcortex liked MATE
    9 months ago
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MATE information

  • Developed by

    MATE
  • Licensing

    Open Source (GPL-2.0) and Free product.
  • Written in

  • Rating

    Average rating of 4.2
  • Alternatives

    23 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English

AlternativeTo Category

OS & Utilities

GitHub repository

  •  470 Stars
  •  81 Forks
  •  134 Open Issues
  •   Updated May 20, 2025 
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Popular alternatives

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Top MATE apps (extensions / mods etc)

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Our users have written 4 comments and reviews about MATE, and it has gotten 141 likes

MATE was added to AlternativeTo by vermin96 on Apr 17, 2012 and this page was last updated May 8, 2025.

Comments and Reviews

   
 Post comment/review
Top Positive Comment
Cora
Oct 10, 2018
0

My favorite desktop environment, by far. Beautiful, simple and productive. When Gnome 3 came out, I spent a good while wallowing in agony at the horrible choices and extreme lag until I discovered that Gnome 2 had been forked as MATE. :)

OAKSIF0
Mar 8, 2018
0

Really nice, has a Windows Feel to it, and a Gnome feel to it, it combines both together. Would be nice to have the bottom bar taskbar to be more compact like Windows 7 and be square icons instead of it taking up that much space. Also a newer version of Gnome would be nice and make customizations easier.

Gamliel Fishkin
Jan 18, 2018
0

MATE is a reincarnation of the good old GNOME 2.

Translator5
Jan 20, 2016
0

Yesterday I've been testing Cinnamon vs. Mate and the solution was a fully surprising for me!

I've used my old Sony Vaio PCV-RS-702 with a little hardware upgrade of 2 GB RAM. There is an old Intel Pentium 4 1xCore with 3.2 Ghz. So it's a old pc to use for Internet and Office. I use the 32bit Version of Linux Mint ROSA.

So the Test I make is 1st I've tried a clear Reboot and autamatically boot into the specific desktop. (Nothing in the autostart!)

Cinnamon used ~ 350Mb - 380Mb RAM and ~ 5% - 45% of my CPU. Mate used ~ 315Mb - 375Mb RAM and 1% - 13% of my CPU.

Why I did make the experiment? Because if I use Windows XP Home SP1 which was been sold to me with the PC 2003. My Windwows Desktop uses just 200MB RAM and 1% - 3% of my CPU.

What is MATE?

Many users of GNOME icon GNOME 2 dislike GNOME 3. MATE is a fork of the good old GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

MATE is under active development to add support for new technologies while preserving a traditional desktop experience.

Official Links