If you are not using the latest version of Solaris then instal Gnome 2.0 (from the Sun website), this puts an entry in dtlogin and allows you to boot into the Gnome desktop. Solaris version 8/03 includes Gnome and is expected to replace CDE as the default desktop in Solaris 10.

Well since I wrote that Solaris 10 has now appeared, CDE is still there, but Gnome has morphed into the Java Desktop System. This is noticeably faster than Gnome 2.02 and has a polished look and feel (see screenshots page). Mozilla is the default browser and Evolution is the email client, as a bonus Star Office 7 is also included. Many of the comments that follow on this page refer to previous Solaris 9 versions, but I will leave them here in case they are useful to someone. My advice though would be upgrade to 10. Blastwave continues to add more useful software to its portfolio, and I strongly recommend using pkg-get and not installing the CCD which is still a bit dated. Blastwave now sell a DVD with the entire repository of over 970 packages, this is updated monthly and available singly or on subscription.

Strangely although the latest Solaris 9 8/03 includes Gnome 2 and Netscape 7.0, neither are very apparent, there is no entry in the login manager for Gnome other than in the C locale. If you use another locale you will need to copy Xresources across to the appropriate directory. Netscape 7 is hidden away as /usr/dt/bin/sun_netscape and clicking the "globe" in CDE still starts Netscape 4.7.( NB This is now fixed in versions 12/03 onward.)

Currently Gnome 2.0 does not include many applications, but a number are available at Blastwave including gaim, pan, and gimp. These together with Sylpheed , Mozilla and OpenOffice will provide a very useable desktop system.

KDE gives much better performance than Gnome on older machines and has lots of built in applications, the latest version 3.1.1a is on the Software Companion CD and includes the Keramik look. The current version of KDE 3.2.x is available at Blastwave, and along with the supporting application packages at Ken Mays site is the fastest and most stable version for Solaris currently available.

If you run CDE with GTK and QT applications you can set the colours and fonts to look like CDE applications. With the help of the KDE style manager I have created files for GTK and QT which give a consistent look if you are using the default scheme in CDE. The gtkrc file should be saved in your home directory as .gtkrc, or for some applications (e.g. Sylpheed) in the applications dot directory (e.g. /.sylpheed) as gtkrc. The qtrc file should be saved in your .qt directory (create this if it does not exist).

If you run Gnome 2.0 and would like all the legacy CDE applications to look like GTK apps then try this tip (Thanks to Calum of Sun Microsystems Ireland) compile, install grdb and add it to your startup session, restart Gnome et voila, all your CDE apps will have the Gnome look.

KDE, XFCE, Window Maker and a number of other Window Managers can also be installed from the Companion CD, although the set up procedure differs for each. For KDE there is a script in /opt/sfw/kde/dtlogin/install-dtlogin this has be run as root and will put an entry into dtlogin for KDE.

Instructions for the other Window Managers can be found in /opt/sfw/READMES. I had problems with the Sun Freeware instructions for Windowmaker, namely that the installed window manager did not use my $PATH. After spending a lot of time trying to cure this problem I eventually installed the version from http://www.blastwave.org and modified the IceWM version of the following files to enable it. These files also work with the Sun Freeware version but must be edited to point to /opt/sfw rather than /opt/csw

To enable WindowMaker as an alternate desktop from the dtlogin screen place Xresources.windowmaker in /usr/dt/config/C/Xresources.d/

Place
Xinitrc.windowmaker 
Xsession.windowmaker
Xsession2.windowmaker

In /usr/dt/config/

The same procedure can be used for other window managers with appropriate editng of these four files, Blackbox for example uses

Xresources.blackbox
Xinitrc.blackbox
Xsession.blackbox
Xsession2.blackbox

For the Blastwave version of KDE place this modified Xresources.kde (NB the latest Blastwave packages for KDE 3.2.x now place dtlogin scripts automatically into /etc/dt/config)

into

/etc/dt/config/C/Xresources.d/

and

Xsession.kde

Xsession.kde2

into

/opt/sfw/kde/dtlogin/
 
CDE Desktop Icons

Some Solaris applications when used with CDE do not provide the correct resources for dtwm to allocate icons Opera for example.

If you want the Opera icon to display correctly on your CDE desktop follow these 
instructions.

Either download my icons opera-cde or create your own using the Opera png icons. They will have to be pixmap format (xpm)
with the following sizes and file names.

48x48 Opera.l.pm
32x32 Opera.m.pm
24x24 Opera.s.pm
16x16 Opera.t.pm

Save these to $HOME/.dt/icons
Create an Action for Opera and select the icon. That gives an action in $HOME/ 
with the Opera icon. This Action can then be added to a drawer or menu, reload Actions to activate.

To give the minimised window an Opera icon copy the file
/usr/dt/app-defaults/C/Dtwm
to
$HOME/

Edit Dtwm and add the following line with the other iconImage actions

Dtwm*opera*iconImage: Opera

The name you insert after Dtwm can be determined by going to the Applications folder and running "Window Properties" from the Extras folder look for WM_CLASS(STRING) in the output.

Restart the Window Manager and the minimized opera will now display the correct 
icon.