The latest release of CDE merges with Motif and offers new features for GUI development.
End users gain access to the power and flexibility of today's networked desktop systems.
CDE is intended for use in enterprise computing environments composed of networked computers from various vendors running versions of the Unix operating system. It provides Unix system users with a single, common graphical desktop environment across platforms, minimizing the learning curve for users who may access applications on multiple systems in the course of a workday. System administrators gain from CDE a common method of installing and integrating applications on various Unix workstations in a distributed environment, and a method for remote configuration and maintenance of an individual user's or group of users' CDE environments. It focused on providing a uniform desktop for different Unix systems. Before CDE, each Unix vendor or independent software vendor provided its own graphical desktop.