GNOME 3

GNOME 3
Developer(s)GNOME Project
Initial releaseApril 6, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-04-06)
Final release
3.38 / September 16, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-09-16)
Written inC
Operating systemUnix-like
PlatformGTK
PredecessorGNOME 2
SuccessorGNOME 40
TypeDesktop environment
LicenseGPL-2.0-only
Websitegnome.org (archived at Wayback Machine) or web.archive.org/web/20131229015754/http://www.gnome.org (archived at the Wayback Machine)

GNOME 3 is the third major release of the GNOME desktop environment. A major departure from technologies implemented by its predecessors, GNOME 3 introduced a dramatically different user interface. It was the first GNOME release to utilize a unified graphical shell known as GNOME Shell. It also introduced support for the Wayland display protocol and added integration with other key technologies such as Flatpak during its development lifecycle.

While loose planning began as early as 2004, it was not officially announced until 2008, and received an initial release in 2011. It was superseded by GNOME 40 in 2021.