This guide will provide 5 examples:
Gnome: gnome-session
Xfce: xubuntu-desktop
KDE: kubuntu-desktop
Cinnamon: cinnamon-desktop-environment
Mate: mate-desktop
All of our laptops ship with Ubuntu GNOME pre-installed. If you would like to change the desktop environment, below are the steps required to install, select and remove alternatives.
The below commands will work on Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Elementary OS and most other Debian based distributions. If you are using another distribution, you will need to change "apt" to the package manager that is used on that distribution such as "pacman", "eopkg" and others.
These commands are used in a terminal shell on Ubuntu OS:
These commands will work with Mint, Elementary and many other packages.
If you find they aren't working, it's most likely that the OS you are in doesn't support apt in which case you will need to research the OS alternative to apt.
GNOME
Command to install GNOME:
sudo apt install gnome-session
Xfce
Command to install Xfce:
sudo apt install xubuntu-desktop
KDE
Command to install KDE:
sudo apt install kubuntu-desktop
Cinnamon
Command to install Cinnamon:
sudo apt install cinnamon-desktop-environment
Mate
Command to install Mate:
sudo apt install mate-desktop-environment
To select a specific environment once installed:
1 Reboot
Once the environment is installed, reboot your machine
2 Select environment
When you are at the login splash-screen, you will see an option on the side of your username (For Mint and other operating systems, you select "Session" and then choose your preferred environment)
3 Enjoy!
Login and enjoy your new desktop environment!
To remove a specific environment after installation using Terminal:
GNOME
sudo apt remove ubuntu-gnome-desktop
sudo apt autoremove -y
Xfce
sudo apt remove -y xubuntu-desktop
sudo apt autoremove -y
KDE
sudo apt remove kubuntu-desktop
sudo apt autoremove -y
Cinnamon
sudo apt-get purge cinnamon
sudo apt autoremove -y
Mate
sudo apt remove mate-desktop
sudo apt autoremove -y