PARD: Window Managers
AfterStep is a Window Manager for X which started by emulating the NeXTSTEP
look and feel, but which has been significantly altered according to the
requests of various users. Many adepts will tell you that NeXTSTEP is not
only the most visually pleasant interface, but also one of the most
functional and intuitive out there. AfterStep aims to incorporate the
advantages of the NeXTSTEP interface, and add additional useful features.
amiwm is an X window manager that tries to make your display look and feel
like an Amiga® Workbench® screen. It is fully functional and
can do all the usual window manager stuff, like moving and resizing windows.
Blackbox is yet another addition to the list of window managers for the X
Consortium's X Windowing System Version 11 Release 6. Blackbox is built with
C++, sharing no common code with any other window manager (even though the
graphics implementation is similar to that of WindowMaker). It features
small code size, a fast interface with simple menus, multiple workspaces,
and decorated windows, built-in graphics code to render solids, gradients
and bevels on the fly when needed, and more.
The goal of ICEWM is to provide a small, fast and familiar window manager
for the X11 window system. Compatibility with the mwm window manager is
desired and will be implemented where appropriate.
The ICEWM is designed to emulate the look of Motif, OS/2 Warp 4, OS/2 Warp 3
and Windows 95. Others might added in the future.
It also tries to combine the feel of the above systems whenever it is
compatible.
Generally, it tries to make all functions available both by keyboard and by
mouse (this is not currently possible when using mouse focus).
Extreme configurability similiar to fvwm and many other window managers is
not the goal.
Scwm is the Scheme Configurable Window Manager. This is a highly dynamic and
extensible window manager for the X Window System (based originally on
fvwm2, but now much enhanced) with Guile Scheme as the
configuration/extension language. Nearly all decorations can be changed at
run-time or per-window, and eventually many decoration styles and additional
features will be supported through dynamically loaded code. A powerful
protocol is provided for interacting with the window manager while it is
running.
WindowMaker is yet another X11 window manager. It is designed to give
additional window manager integration support for GNUstep applications.
WindowMaker's goals are ease of use, ease of configuration and useful
features with a simple and elegant look borrowed from NEXTSTEP(tm). Where
possible, WindowMaker tries to be close to NEXTSTEP(tm)'s window manager,
both in look and in feel. Here follows some of it's features:
- built-in icon dithering
- handling of window groups as a whole (iconify
all windows of a given application into a single icon)
- almost complete
ICCCM compliance
- application Dock (aka Wharf) that you can configure by
drag and drop
- "pinnable" menus for launching applications
- menus that
are automatically redefined when the configuration file is changed
-
multiple workspaces
- gradient rendered window decorations
- keyboard
traversal of menus
- ability to name workspaces directly from the menu
-
ability to change preferences, like colors, fonts etc, without restarting
- support for XPM, PNG, JPEG, TIFF and PPM icons (no conversions with
external programs) with an alpha-channel
- national language support
Descriptions, screenshots and configuration files for all popular window
managers, along with related resources, including some icons and textures.
© 1999 by Stefan Hornburg
<racke@linuxia.de>
Last modified 03. June 1999