An OS is the Operating System (duh!) of the computer. It handles all the communication between the ports (USB, HDMI, etc), video, storage, memory, screen, mouse--essentially all the hardware that makes up your computer. The OS is what handles the communications and translations of the various languages they "speak" so that one piece of hardware can communicate with other pieces of hardware.
A Desktop Environment is the screen that the user sees and and uses to operate the computer. I *would* say Graphical User Interface (GUI), but some DEs can be nothing more than a console screen with a prompt (not very graphical).
Windows typically has just one DE, and that is what people just use. Linux comes with a choice of DE to better fit one's style of usage. COSMIC is the latest DE, joining old-timers like GNOME, KDE, and XFCE (among others).
Where does Ubuntu fit in that picture?
Thanks. Not sure I understand the difference but again I’m low tech.
Anyway I’ve got Windows 11 on a Dell computer. I use it for basic stuff including replaying audio/video, but that’s about it.
Works OK for me but higher speed sounds nice.
“An OS is the Operating System (duh!) of the computer. It handles all the communication between the ports (USB, HDMI, etc), video, storage, memory, screen, mouse—essentially all the hardware that makes up your computer. The OS is what handles the communications and translations of the various languages they “speak” so that one piece of hardware can communicate with other pieces of hardware.
A Desktop Environment is the screen that the user sees and and uses to operate the computer. I *would* say Graphical User Interface (GUI), but some DEs can be nothing more than a console screen with a prompt (not very graphical).
Windows typically has just one DE, and that is what people just use. Linux comes with a choice of DE to better fit one’s style of usage. COSMIC is the latest DE, joining old-timers like GNOME, KDE, and XFCE (among others).”
Excellent Ace. Thank you for sharing this with them! What might also help is a Glossary of Linux terminology, just different terms and acronyms for similar things familiar in Windows. Such as the CLI (Command Line Interface) being the same as the DOS prompt in MS. A lot of the misunderstandings about Linux are just a difference of the terminology:
https://www.mybpl.org/documents/computerclasses/LINUX%20GLOSSARY.pdf