Desktop environments for Kali?

Anyone using any desktop environments for Kali linux that will ease the transition of a Windows user? I'm having a hard time setting up my VM in a way where I have the most used tools a click away like in Windows. I installed KDE on one VM but many tools like nmap were not working properly after that. But the KDE desktop was much easier to move around.
On the other side, not every thing is bad, I am spending most of my time researching how to do different things and spending just as much on thw terminal screen, so many typos! Ack!

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networker050184

XFCE, Mate or Cinnamon are all Windows XPish. Gnome for a more modern desktop environment. You could add a dock to any of these for quick launch.

wd40

I have been using Kali as my main OS for around 6 months, using the default GNOME, it was "strange" at first but you get used to it.
I tried to use it in a VM but as you said it was working really bad, you can dual boot maybe?

As for the application shortcuts in Gnome there is something called "Dash to dock" which is like what you have in the mac, a dock with application icons.
There is also an option to enable "windows list" which is like the task bar in windows.

These 2 options made my experience much much better.

One more "I think this may not work in a VM", if you click the windows key in the keyboard you get some thing like a search box, type the application or file name and you will get it, no need to go through the Applications menu (Just like in windows).

636-555-3226

Been using it for years as a VM without any issues. Then again, I do most of my stuff through the terminal, so maybe that's why? Are you looking for an easy GUI way of hacking - is that it?

TheFORCE

Not looking for an easy GUI way of hacking, just looking for a way to put my used apps a click away on the desktop, tasks bar or dock. Maybe the dock will work. Haven't customized anything yet so maybe thats why it looks hard to navigate.

chrisone

You should try to get out of that mentality because most of your time will be spent on the terminal. Working on the terminal then minimizing everything just to click an icon or whatever is not productive. Learn to work inside the terminal. Also try not to look for a windows experience inside any flavor of linux

TheFORCE

You may be absolutely right. Only way to learn it is to do it but typing is time consuming especially when you write long commands hit enter and you get an error because you missed a dash or theres an extra space. That's not productive either the way I see it. But yeah much cooler to hack away on the keyboard at night when other people are sleeping.

chrisone

Nah you can usually hit tab to complete your commands or hit the -h or man pages. On your studies, adventures, courses using Kali linux you will get use to it and find that it is much faster. Also don't get me wrong there are some apps or interfaces that are better suited for GUI. For example tshark vs wireshark. Wireshark GUI is much better IMO.

dontstop

Learn to love the terminal because when you have to remote into a machine you won't have a Window manager available and you'll be lost.

hiddenknight821

I'm surprised no one recommended against having Kali installed on your machine. From a security standpoint, I'd prefer to have it run from live cd (usb) or keep it contained in a VM. If you want a desktop distro, get anything but Kali as Kali isn't meant to be used as a desktop but just a bunch of tools prepackaged for your convenience.

chrisone

This is true^ I would vote for the persistent USB though.

636-555-3226

I've been there dude, believe me. Live in the terminal for a few weeks/months and you'll actually get good at it and it won't bother you at all (after the long painful getting used to it process). Plus there's lots of built-in shortcuts you can learn to help out. Wrote out the wrong command in the terminal? Just hit the up arrow and go back - no need to type it all in again.

Windows GUI is great and I love my Windows, but for certain things, esp. security-related things, command line is a better place to live for many popular tools (both *nix and Powershell-based).

TheFORCE wrote: »

You may be absolutely right. Only way to learn it is to do it but typing is time consuming especially when you write long commands hit enter and you get an error because you missed a dash or theres an extra space. That's not productive either the way I see it. But yeah much cooler to hack away on the keyboard at night when other people are sleeping.

Verities

Concerning anything Linux related, you'll never be able to get the same power out of the GUI as you can from CLI.

TheFORCE

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

I'm surprised no one recommended against having Kali installed on your machine. From a security standpoint, I'd prefer to have it run from live cd (usb) or keep it contained in a VM.

I have it running on a VM.

Yeah i will take your guys advice and keep using it as is to get comfortable with it.

alias454

I agree using the command line is the way to go for most things but there are times when gui tools are easier afaic(burp, wireshark, etc). You can also setup different workspaces in the GUI if you want to go that route. Typically, the first thing I open after logon is a terminal app. When working via ssh, I use tmux a lot and find I like it much better than screen.

It's good to be adaptable to the default DEs that you might encounter in linux but it is also easy enough to install a new one and switch to it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=install+xfce+on+kali&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

SaSkiller

Theres no real issue with using Kali as a desktop OS from a security perspective if it is not being used as a daily browser and is kept updated. Evern better if you follow standard process and run unprivileged.