Desktop

The Solaris 2.6 release has the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) as the default desktop. It continues to support the OpenWindows desktop.

Common Desktop Environment

The Solaris Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is an advanced Motif-based desktop with an easy-to-use interface that provides a consistent look and feel across UNIX platforms. SunSoft, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, and Novell, Inc. each contributed technologies to establish a new cross-platform standard for user and application interfaces based on the X Window System and Motif.

While maintaining compliance with the CDE standards, Solaris CDE offers additional benefits to its users and developers, including performance improvements and significant defect fixes, thus providing a higher quality product. Existing OpenWindows utilities were integrated with CDE via a special folder in Application Manager. New features include a spell checker and an image viewer to display, rotate, scale, and convert graphic images and PostScript files.

With Solaris CDE you can run OpenWindows applications without modification, with drag-and-drop interaction from OpenWindows applications to CDE applications. All OpenWindows and OPEN LOOK applications run without any need for modification, recompilation, or unwieldy compatibility libraries. If you are used to the OpenWindows environment, you have access to the familiar backdrops, color palettes, and pop-up Workspace menu.

CDE User Environment

The CDE user environment includes the following features:

• Login Manager for logging into the desktop, which is available automatically as your workstation is booted. Choose from the Remote Login menu item Options menu to be able to run your desktop on any system on your network.

• An Integrated Motif environment that contains a Front Panel from which you can launch desktop applications. You can customize your desktop look by choosing such things as font size, color, and backdrop.

• The Workspace menu, which is a pop-up menu that contains items for managing the desktop workspace.

• An online Help information system that provides information on the various desktop applications.

CDE Development Environment

The CDE 1.2 Development Environment is included in optional packages for users who develop software in CDE. These packages contain:

• Utility applications, man pages, libraries, and header files to help you develop CDE applications

• Widgets to ease porting OPEN LOOK^TM and Microsoft Windows applications to CDE, as well as terminal emulator, text editor, and file selection box widgets

• Application Builder, a tool for creating graphical user interfaces that use CDE application program interfaces (APIs)

• Desktop KornShell (dtksh), a scripting language

• Demonstration programs in source form for Motif, ToolTalk^TM messaging, and other CDE services

Significant CDE Application Features

• Web- and Internet-aware features in File Manager and Enterprise Mailer

• Spell checker integrated into Text Editor and Enterprise Mailer

• Basic IMAP4 support in Enterprise Mailer

• Removable media support for CD-ROMs and diskettes

• Access Control List (ACL) support

• Multimedia image and audio support

• Auto lock screen

• Federated Naming Space (FNS) support in Calendar (for NIS+ only)

Power Management for SPARC Desktop Systems

Power Management software enables users to be more frugal with power consumption on desktop systems when they are not being used. By default, UltraSPARC desktop systems power off when not used for 30 minutes. The system can later be restored by Power Management software to the state it was in before it was powered off. Users can modify or turn off Power Management if needed.

For more information, see Using Power Management.

OpenWindows 3.6 Environment

The OpenWindows 3.6 desktop and libraries have been updated with bug fixes and prepared for the year 2000. The OpenWindows 3.6 environment provides the following features:

• The OPEN LOOK Window Manager, olwm, a client to the X server, which manages:

  • Window placement

  • Workspace Programs menu

  • Window and icon opening and closing

  • Application starting and exiting

  For more information, see the olwm(1) man page.

• Internationalization, which enables you to select the local language, time format, and numeric format for the workspace and the DeskSet^TM applications.

• If you have a localized version of the Solaris 2.6 release, you can install localization packages that provide support for European or Asian locales

• The X server, the platform of the OpenWindows environment for window applications

The X server is a program that is the foundation for the OpenWindows environment. It is the X11R6 sample server with a Display PostScript (DPS) imaging system extension. The X server also includes several X extensions, a font server 0 and DPS font enhancements:

• Default key bindings for Motif on Sun

• An executable, xmbind, that enables you to change your keybindings without restarting olwm

For more information, see the Xsun(1)(), Xserver(1)(), and X11(7)() man pages.

New User Locales in the Solaris 2.6 CD

All localized versions of Solaris, including English, includes the new local support listed in Table 3-2.

Table 3-2 New User Locales Included in Solaris 2.6

Country	Locale-Name	ISO Code Set
Austria	de_AT (German Partial Locale)	8859-1
Estonia	et	8859-1
Czech	cz	8859-2
Hungary	hu	8859-2
Poland	pl	8859-2
Latvia	lv	8859-4
Lithuania	lt	8859-4
Russia	ru	8859-5
Greece	el	8859-7
Turkey	tr	8859-9

These locales are supported through the SUNWploc1, SUNWplow1, and SUNWpldte packages, which are part of the Entire cluster.

Two locales, Greek and Russian, are based on non-Latin scripts and require an optional SMCC keyboard for text input.

Unicode 2.0 Support

Two locals, which are Unicode 2.0 and ISO 10646 compliant, have been added. These locales enable multiscript input and output and are the first locales provided in the Solaris environment with this capability. These locales support the CDE environment only, including the Motif and CDE libraries.

Font Administration

Font Admin enables easy installation and usage of fonts for the X Window System. It supports TrueType, Type0, Type1, and CID fonts for multibyte languages, and provides comparative font preview capability. It is fully integrated into the CDE desktop.

TrueType fonts are supported through X and DPS. Font Admin allows for easy installation and integration of third party fonts into the Solaris environment.

For more information, see the X/Open web site at http://www.xopen.org.

Asian Language Enhancements

Solaris 2.6 software has been re-architected to the historical dependency on the Extended UNIX Codeset (EUC). Additional codeset support and locales for popular Asian PC encoding standards, ShiftJIS (PCK) in Japan, Big5 in PRC, and Johap in Korea are also provided. These locales support the CDE environment only, including the Motif and CDE libraries.

Solaris User Registration

Solaris User Registration is a registration mechanism invoked when the user first brings up the Solaris 2.6 desktop environment. By registering, customers can take advantage of Sun's commitment to providing superior service and support. Registered users will be regularly informed about new Solaris releases, upgrade offers, and promotions that they can use to enhance their systems.