This one was developed by Robert Nation in 1993. ( )įVWM (F Virtual Window Manager) is yet another twm derivative. CTWM has 3D borders and better icon management and support. tvtwm uses code from twm and swm.ĬTWM (Claude's Tab Window Manager) is another derivative of twm, but this one was developed by Claude Lecommandeur in 1992. Tvtwm is another window manager developed by Tom LaStrange. swm used virtual desktops and restored applications that were running before the previous shutdown/reboot. Swm (the Solbourne window manager) was developed by Tom LaStrange (same one that made twm) in 1990. NOTE: X PixMap ( XPM) is a special image format that uses ASCII and a programming-like code to define the appearance of an image. Vtwm implemented virtual desktops (workspaces) hence the name. Vtwm (the Virtual Tabbed Window Manager) is a derivative of twm that was made in 1990. Then, a window manager draws and manages the window. For example, the GTK toolkit defines how a window should appear. A widget-toolkit is a set of software that works with the window manager to design the window's appearance. This also doesn't cover the plethora of tiling window managers.NOTE: Xlib is a C-programming library for interacting with X11 (X Window System Version 11). I'm not sure where 'enlightenment' fits in. GNUstep & WindowMaker (Not maintained afaik, but was my favourite years ago) XFCE (Lots of people pitch it as a gnome alternative, but I think that doesn't do it justice) KDE (4.x is pretty much all you'll find now) Unity-2d (iirc QT-based port of unity for machines or users that can't run unity) Unity (Ubuntu's DE based on gnome libraries & software) Gnome fallback (mainline gnome for machines or users that can't run shell) Gnome-shell (mainline gnome for OpenGL capable machines) Gnome 2 (discontinued, but still popular) Mutter (used in gnome-shell, probably also in gnome3 fallback)Ĭompiz (used in Unity, often also used with gnome2, can be used with gnome3 fallback) Sawfish (Used with gnome before metacity) Are you looking for just a WM (like fluxbox)? Or an alternative Desktop Environment?īlackbox (not sure if this is still used)

Best linux window manager