General FAQ

GNOME provides a familiar desktop metaphor that enables users to easily interact with the applications and documents on their desktop. It includes an advanced file manager, a comprehensive online help system, useful software utilities and accessories, and panels for launching applications and managing application windows and multiple workspaces.

• Nautilus, a powerful file manager, provides a user interface that makes it easy to organize and locate applications and documents, as well as novel ways to view file contents.
• Panel, a bar on the desktop that contains application launchers, system menus, panel drawers (sub-panels), or running applications called panel applets. The Panel makes it very easy to quickly launch applications and view system status. You can create as many panels as you like.
• Utilities, for supporting a variety of everyday tasks, including:
  • Text Editor
  • Calculator
  • Character Map
  • Image Viewer
  • PostScript/PDF Viewer
  • Media Player
  • Sound Recorder
  • Performance Meter
  • Print Manager
  • Terminal
• Panel Applets, a set of handy utilities that run in a GNOME panel, including:
  • Clock
  • Inbox Monitor
  • CD Player
  • Volume Control
  • Character Palette
  • Command Line
  • Keyboard Layout Switcher
  • Window List
  • Workspace Switcher

• Extensive keyboard navigation support, allowing virtually all of the desktop to be used without the need for a mouse
• AccessX support, allowing control over how keyboard data may be entered (supports Mouse Keys, Slow Keys, Bounce Keys, Sticky Keys, Toggle and Repeat Keys)
• Themes to support users who have certain types of vision problems (High Contrast, High Contrast Inverse, High Contrast Large Print, High Contrast Large Print Inverse, Large Print, Low Contrast, Low Contrast Large Print)
• Integrated accessibility architecture, allowing developers to more easily create and integrate accessible applications and assistive technologies (AT). Sun expects to deliver additional accessibility support in the next few months by providing the following assistive technologies: onscreen keyboard, screen magnifier, and screen reader.

Note: Most of the applications provided with GNOME are expected to work with GNOME assistive technologies when these technologies are integrated in a later release.

• XML, DOM
• HTTP, HTML
• CORBA
• MIME
• X11, NFS, TCP/IP
• XDnD
• Unicode
• OpenGL[R]
• Media standards -- MPEG, JPEG, MIDI, AVI
• Smart card
• Removable media
• IEEE-1394, USB, serial, parallel, SCSI, and PC card
• Energy Star

We recommend using the Java Runtime Environment v1.4 or later with the GNOME 2.0 Desktop. JRE 1.4 includes several bug fixes that make it perform better with GNOME.

GNOME is built on a core set of libraries used to create graphical user interfaces, high-level components for creating applications with a uniform look and feel, a fast and thin CORBA ORB, and other functions for handling configuration files. Accessibility support is provided through an accessibility toolkit integrated with the GUI toolkit, as well as an interface for integrating assistive technologies. GNOME also provides libraries for handling XML data and HTTP connections as well as a printing and font framework. Its innovative component architecture, called Bonobo, leverages CORBA to enable reusable code modules, scripting, and use of compound documents.

Desktop versions of GNOME typically use the X Window System, which provides the basic windowing services used by GNOME and GNOME-based applications. As a result, it runs with the Solaris Operating Environment and also GNU/Linux, because they include X.

For more information on GNOME's architecture, visit the GNOME developer's site at: http://developer.gnome.org/arch/ or Sun's GNOME for Solaris software site at http://www.sun.com/gnome/.

GNOME's network architectural base helps drive innovation in new application markets that require distributed network software. Since GNOME software scales across systems ranging from embedded devices through clusters running Solaris software, developers have the flexibility to choose the target device for their application without having to change their development model.

• Binary portability across disparate platforms
• Productive development
• Well-structured code

Developers, particularly when runtime performance is critical, can also take advantage of development in C or C++ (and many other languages) using the GTK+libraries that form part of GNOME. GTK+ is a powerful framework that simplifies development of desktop applications.

GNOME makes it possible for average users to harness most of the capabilities of the underlying Solaris Operating Environment without having to be a UNIX guru or a command line wizard. In particular, GNOME's file manager, Nautilus, provides advanced capabilities to locate and manipulate local and remote files as well as global information resources. GNOME also includes a powerful component model that makes it much easier to create desktop applications that support compound documents.

Please see: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html for more detailed descriptions of these licenses.

• Reliability and quality
• Office productivity that leverages the StarOffice technology that Sun has contributed to the free source community through OpenOffice.org
• Localization and internationalization
• Integration with Mozilla
• Integration with Java technology
• Accessibility
• Documentation