Enlightenment (window manager)

Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a compositing window manager for the X Window System. Since version 0.20, Enlightenment also supports Wayland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is shipped with some Linux distributions such as Bodhi Linux and Pentoo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Enlightenment is only a window manager at its core; however, with many modules included, it can be extended to resemble a full desktop environment.<ref name="OsusiPortal">Template:Cite web</ref> Since version 0.17 (E17), Enlightenment has been written with the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL), and the Enlightenment project also writes a set of applications with the EFL.

History

E16 and before

The first version of Enlightenment was released by Carsten Haitzler in 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Originally, it was just a window manager before the addition of the EFL in E17.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

With the release of E17 written with the EFL in 2012, Enlightenment went through a major rewrite, splitting the codebase into 0.16 (E16) and the versions after (E17). Some of the community decided to stay with the E16 codebase and continue development of this version, releasing under an independent versioning scheme from E17. It reached the 1.0 milestone and is still actively developed as of 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

E17 and later

In 2000, the development of the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries started to create a toolkit for writing applications that interoperate with Enlightenment, as well as other X window managers, too. As the EFL was built up, Enlightenment was rewritten to utilize the EFL, and in 2012 version 0.17.0 was released. As this version was completely rewritten to use the EFL, it is incompatible with E16.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The current version as of January 2025 is E27.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Usage

Bodhi Linux was built around the Enlightenment 17 desktop, but forked it to create the Moksha desktop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elive Linux also used a fork of E17 as its main desktop environment until 2019, when the 3.7 series was released. It also features E16 and has future plans to integrate the new E26 version.

Reception

A 2011 review of E16 found it was highly customisable, featuring per-window configurability, support for virtual desktops with much larger screenspace than monitor size, and that "nearly everything can be done with the keyboard." While the appearance was praised, the desktop environment was criticised as being somewhat unstable due to bugs at the time. While E16 could be used as a window manager for GNOME or KDE, the review found they had poor compatibility.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A 2014 review of E17 found the design to be fast, touchscreen friendly and have a nice appearance, but was annoyed by the small selection area to resize windows. The appearance of the default terminal with the desktop environment, called Terminology, was also praised and the author personally liked the desktop left and right click menus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A 2017 review found E18 to have lightweight performance, remarking a similar appearance to Mac OS, but also mentioning a steep learning curve due to the desktop left and right click menus.<ref name=":0" />

A 2020 review praised Enlightenment for its high number of keyboard shortcuts, and that it was lightweight enough to run well on older hardware, with low idle CPU and RAM usage. However, it criticised the desktop left and right click menus for having too much complexity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Release history

Major releases<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Version	Code name	Release date	Notes
pre-alpha	Enlightenment Alpha1	October 1996<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.13.2	DR13	18 January 1998<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.14.0	DR14	18 July 1998<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.15.0	DR15	12 March 1999<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.16	DR16	27 October 1999<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Still maintained as of 2024. Preferred by many people, especially as a "retro" desktop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.17	DR17	21 December 2012<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Major rewrite version. Was forked to create the Moksha desktop.
0.18	DR18	22 December 2013<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.19	DR19	15 September 2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.20	DR20	1 December 2015<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.21	DR21	1 June 2016<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.22	DR22	22 November 2017<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.23	DR 0.23	24 August 2019<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.24	DR 0.24	17 May 2020<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.25	DR 0.25	16 December 2021<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.26	DR 0.26	23 December 2023<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
0.27	DR 0.27	11 January 2025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Current release.

See also

• Comparison of X window managers
• Terminology (software)

External links

• Template:Official website
• Official website for E16
• Source code repositories
• Operating-systems distribution status Template:Webarchive
• Elive Linux's fork of E17