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Over the years (well, over the months) I tried out several window managers under both Linux and Solaris. Now it's time to share my experiences with the public. Use this page to find out more about window managers and choose the one that fits you best.
Window manager entries are sorted by my personal preference.
This comes with X, so you most probably have it installed already. I like twm, but it is a little bit too bloated. There are many features you never wanted to have, but lacks virtual desktops and other useful features.
Nevertheless, I now use twm exclusively on all my computers and at university. My config file is available, if you are interested.
wimpwm was my favourite window manager and the one I had been using all the time. It is the successor of Yakazao.
This used to be my favourite, but it was replaced by wimpwm.
The name says it. Very simplistic, only configurable by recompilation. Does not support virtual desktops. I liked it's feel and speed, but I did not like the look. aewm made me start my own window manger, and the overall structure of aewm still shows up in Yakazao.
NeXT-ish window manager designed to be small and fast, yet configurable. I liked blackbox and read the blackbox mailing list for a few months, but somehow I switched over to a new window manager one day. The bar at the bottom (which is used to switch desktops and windows) disturbed me, and I was to lazay to find out how to switch it off.
A turing complete window manager, programmable in scheme. Unfortunately, the standard desktop layout (window decorations, menus and so on) was too much like Windows, and it also was to slow on startup. Nevertheless, I liked the idea of having an Emacs'ish window manager.
Very small and fast, but hardly configurable. Does not support virtual desktops. I liked it, only the window borders were too fat.
Well, a window manager. Special because a lot of modules exist which can be loaded into the window manager and change its behaviour. Somehow, a little bit boring, because there is nothing really interesting about it. At least that's my very personal opinion. Have a look yourself.
Window manager with NeXT look. Supports multiple desktops and dock applications, of which a lot exist. I never figured out what sense the big icons made, which were aligned on the bottom of the screen. Of course, you could deiconify windows by clicking them, but since all Xterm icons looked the same, you never know which one to click. But for those who want themes, there are plenty of them for Window Maker.
Useful, but rather ugly in the default settings, especially the digital clock in the lower right corner. The taskbar gives one a strange Windows feeling, so I never got comfortable with this one.
A clone of twm. ctwm can handle multiple desktops and includes a pager. Can be configured to look like other window managers, mwm for example. But if you like that, you are better off using other window managers instead.
Another twm clone. Manages virtual desktops etc.
This is the first version of the window manager above. More limited, but still the version installed at some places. Just as interesting as fvwm2 (yawn).
Very simple window manager. Does not support virtual desktops. Does not support title bars or window frames neither.
A window manager as configurable as a window manager could be. The only drawback: It's a memeory hog and was sooooo slow on my computer. I have to admit: Some themes (and there are plenty of them) look damn cool!
Modeled after the 8 1/2-window manager used on the Plan-9 operating system. evilwm, aewm and lwm are based on this one. It's click-to-focus (Yuck!).
Virtual desktop version of the Open Look Window Manager, the Sun window manager. Very elegant, but somehow not interesting enough.
(Thanks to Guido Gloede for the link.)
Very simplistic window manager. This one is to simple even for me, so I stopped using it after a few days.
The "luxury" version of wm2. I don't remember why, at the moment, but you can have a look yourself.
Nice window manager, the feeling was nice, but the look was not what I liked.
Window Manager with NeXT look-and-feel. Not as elegant as Window Maker or Blackbox, but this one was the first of the NeXT'ish window Managers, IIRC.
Multiple desktops, configurable root menus, but it's appearence was not the right thing (TM). It also crashed and had other bugs (window redrawing, menu handling) when I tried it out.