Both Xterm and terminal are terminal emulators familiar to UNIX based systems running the X Windows System. A terminal is a command-line interface that permits users to communicate in the same way the written word is for human beings. It is one of the most powerful features of Linux that offers users access to the command interface.
Each type of desktop has different ways to access the terminal. XTerm is the default terminal emulator package for Linux systems running the X Windows system. Xterm is not installed by default. You must connect in first and launch Xterm from another terminal emulator, such as a terminal. Dissimilar to the terminal, users can have several instances of xterm running simultaneously, which means that each screen corresponds to a separate process, with each one delivering independent input and output for the process running it.