i'm new in linux.
from the Internet i came to know that there are various types of distros and various desktop environment.
i wanted to know

(i)if i can install and uninstall Desktops like regular apps.

(ii)if i can install more than one desktop at a time and interchange them with few mouse clicks or keystrokes.



e.g: i installed ubuntu with unity, now can i install gnome 3.16 on it?interchange with unity and gnome whenever i want? uninstall gnome desktop when i want?


Thank you.

usually yes, when you login you can choose your desktop too.

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thank you.
will installing several desktops slow down my computers performance?

in general no

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You can install multiple desktops by installing the "metapackage" for that desktop, which is a package that automatically pulls in all other dependencies. Then your login screen, known as a display manager, should have an option for what type of "session" to start, meaning your desktop environment. In general, in Linux, having extra packages installed makes no difference in speed.

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my experience (!) is that installing multiple desktop environments can cause havoc.

sometimes even before you log in (kde).

i guess the safest way is to dual/triple/quadruple-boot different systems.

or at least i would create a different user for each DE.

i'm sorry if my opinion is quite different from the rest voiced here.

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Every DE drags in a lot of the standard "tools" for that DE. You'll end up with multiple file managers, terminals, and utilities...

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yes, they will need a lot of storage, but will not run together, so will not use ram and cpu simultaneously.

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it has happened to me when i installed KDE stuff on top of an XFCE box, that it also installed and started some system services that were interfering with my XFCE experience.
so not only storage space.
also, e.g. gnome tools are used by many other DEs, and if you install a fullblown GNOME desktop on top of, say, LXDE, that might also interfer with already installed gnome tools.

That is easy to solve and prevent.
In Xfce, go to "Settings Manager," then to "Session and Startup," and removed the check marks next to anything you do not want to run in your Xfce session. These items should not start up on their own again, UNLESS, you go back and run a different desktop environment. For example, you were using Xfce, but the next time you booted up you started KDE. If you go back to Xfce, repeat instructions above.
You can do the same for KDE. So far Xfce's "Clipman" is the only Xfce utility that loads itself when switching to KDE and if you are staying in KDE you can prevent "Clipman" from starting again by simply right clicking on the icon and selecting, "quit." Done.
Not a big deal.
For years I've bounced back and forth between Xfce and KDE with no problems, but usually stay with one or the other for a stretch (days, weeks, months) before moving back to the other.
The nice thing about having KDE installed is you can use the KDE applications in Xfce, and I do use a few, e.g., Gwenview (image viewer), Konsole (terminal), Dolphin (file manager) and one or two others, as they are better, IMHO, than the similar Xfce applications.
Unfortunately, the interface for KDE-5 is as ugly as week old pizza, IMHO, but as I'm using the KDE applications in Xfce it doesn't matter.
Rather than use a GUI splash screen to change Desktops, I prefer to boot to a command line, run xwmconfig (in Slackware64), pick the desktop, and then start it with, startx. Use whatever system works best for you.

that lengthy explanation kind of strengthens my point: not recommended for noobs.

what i posted before is something that happened to me many years ago.
fair enough, things have developed since then, most probably for the better.

i am not bothered. plain openbox user for years now, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

I've run multiple desktops lots of times. Back when I was married my wife preferred the Nasty Gnome, so her user account booted to that desktop while mine properly opened to KDE.

Quick synopsis of desktops: Unity is retarded; trying to force a desktop to a mobile paradigm is really stupid. The newer version of Gnome is the same way, and the older version that my ex liked lacked sufficient options for workflow customization, forced you to use it's favorite file manager by having it draw the desktop (WTF), and lacked session saving. XFCE and Enlightenment pretend it's 2005 and limit your options in the name of being lightweight... which makes no sense with modern hardware being so powerful and cheap.

Get KDE. No other desktop even comes remotely close when it comes to configurability, and what part of customizing your own workflow do you not want?

slightly different situation, because seperate user accounts with seperate desktops.
that's how i would recommend to do it, if one feels the need to do it.