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calcifer
New Member
Joined: 24 Jan 2025
Posts: 20
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 Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2025 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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| No one did mention Ion3 before? It has a pretty cool concept: tiles instead of overlapping windows and designed to be fully usable without a mouse. Very geeky piece of software. I'm using Gnome and Fluxbox right now but I will certainly come back to Ion3 someday.
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monsterb
Jr. Member
Joined: 16 Oct 2025
Posts: 85
Location: Indiana
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Cope57
Sr. Member
Joined: 25 Jan 2025
Posts: 1602
Location: 34.638673, -98.384704
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| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2025 6:39 am Post subject: |
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| RootLinux wrote: | I have tried most all of these ( may I have missed about 2  )
The xpde seems very buggy and not really workable to me.
Looks alot like XP which would help NEW users trying to leave Winders.
Too bad it isn't really functional yet. |
Almost like Windows? | Quote: | | buggy, not really workable |
Seems a lot like Windows,  [/bashing]_________________ This block is for DISTRO information ONLY, all other information will be removed by the Site Administrators.
Debian GNU/Linux testing - Linux 2.6.32-4-amd64 |
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mmmna
. . . .
Joined: 21 Apr 2025
Posts: 7224
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| Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2025 12:45 am Post subject: |
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| The URL for WindowMakers seems to be incorrect.... www.windowmaker.info works for me.
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-Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta2 on Celeron D desktop
-PCLinuxOS 2025 LXDE on EeePC 900A with Atom n270 (modded with 32G SATA drive and 2G ram).
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inactive
Sr. Member
Joined: 29 Aug 2025
Posts: 1207
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| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2025 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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| How about Avant?
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Mandriva 2025.1 PWP
Mandriva Cooker
ArtistX live
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masinick
Linux Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 4:51 pm Post subject: Information and history on the X Window System |
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Being the historian that I am (with an "air conditioned" top to prove it), I like keeping records of where technologies come from, how they work, what their purpose is, and so on. The Wikipedia actually has a rather good article that seems to be very well researched that goes into an explanation of the X Window System, how it is not a window manager or a desktop environment in and of itself, but how it provides a framework that can be used in a great variety of ways. Nearly all of the graphical user interface window and desktop managers in the free software environment make use of X in some manner, and this article references many of them. If you have never read it before it is a good read, and the many sources it references also represent excellent sources of information.
Take a look at Wikipedia X Window System for a very good historical, technical, and informative source of information. |
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melloe
Ultimate Member
Joined: 20 Mar 2025
Posts: 2262
Location: Southern Illinois
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2025 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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http://xwinman.org/
Welcome to my guide to window managers and desktop environments for The X Window System, as used mainly by Linux and UNIX operating systems. Here you will find descriptions, screenshots and configuration files for all popular window managers, along with related resources, including a news and discussion area. Simply click on the appropriate links on the left, or below.
If this is your first time here, you may like to read the introduction.
http://xwinman.org/intro.html
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mell0: 1. Kubuntu, XP, Sabayon 2. Mandriva,Mint, Mephis
Thor: 1. VISTA, Fedora 2. Chakra, Debian
Sam:XP, SuSE Zues: win7, SuSE testing
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masinick
Linux Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2025 3:58 pm Post subject: Thanks! |
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| melloe wrote: | http://xwinman.org/
Welcome to my guide to window managers and desktop environments for The X Window System, as used mainly by Linux and UNIX operating systems. Here you will find descriptions, screenshots and configuration files for all popular window managers, along with related resources, including a news and discussion area. Simply click on the appropriate links on the left, or below.
If this is your first time here, you may like to read the introduction.
http://xwinman.org/intro.html |
I think I have had that bookmarked in the past, but may have lost it in the shuffle. i bookmarked it again - plenty of useful information there, thanks! |
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geeshock
Moderator
Joined: 02 Nov 2025
Posts: 1017
Location: Hertford, NC
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2025 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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| lol, there are so many window managers for linux/bsd out there it's not funy, the list could go on, I'm preferable to the smaller ones like blackbox and fluxbox. they are x enough to look x but not so much they hog resources. I know computers today can handle more but to hog up more power than you realy need is to much like windows to me, lol.
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masinick
Linux Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2025 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: Information and history on the X Window System |
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| masinick wrote: | Being the historian that I am (with an "air conditioned" top to prove it), I like keeping records of where technologies come from, how they work, what their purpose is, and so on. The Wikipedia actually has a rather good article that seems to be very well researched that goes into an explanation of the X Window System, how it is not a window manager or a desktop environment in and of itself, but how it provides a framework that can be used in a great variety of ways. Nearly all of the graphical user interface window and desktop managers in the free software environment make use of X in some manner, and this article references many of them. If you have never read it before it is a good read, and the many sources it references also represent excellent sources of information.
Take a look at Wikipedia X Window System for a very good historical, technical, and informative source of information. |
I come back to this Wikipedia site when I want to refresh myself on where the X Window System came from - but also where it is today and what the current developments are. The site seems to be well maintained, and just about every development, whether we are discussing desktop environments or window managers, even some pretty obscure ones, seem to be well covered, either directly on the page or through links to additional topics and references. I recommend this site for anyone wanting to know more about window managers in general or about specific window managers or desktop environments.
As far as where my personal use is centered these days, I'd say that somewhere between 90 and 95 percent of my time are spent in one of three environments, XFCE, KDE, or a simpler IceWM window manager environment. My most commonly used environment recently has been a moderately configured XFCE environment on a Debian system. Right now I am using XFCE with a Debian Squeeze system I put together less than two weeks ago. It has been outstanding. I have not rebooted it since I built it:
| Code: | uptime
11:05:58 up 10 days, 12:41, 2 users, load average: 0.39, 0.26, 0.20 |
This system would fall into the category of moderate sized desktop environment.
A system that would still qualify as a desktop environment, perhaps at or near the minimal desktop environment would be LXDE. I have tested and used LXDE. The way I have my system configured, LXDE is lighter that XFCE, but not by much, and I appreciate the extra features that I get with my modest XFCE setup, so it is my preferred every day environment. I probably use LXDE 2-3% of the time.
When I do want a full, complete desktop environment and I have the resources to manage it, I use KDE 4.3. I have found that KDE 4 can run on even my ten year old Dell Dimension 4100 desktop, but KDE 3 and KDE 4 do consume large memory resources so some swapping takes place on the 4100. But on my Gateway portable, KDE 3 and 4 both perform superbly. KDE takes a bit longer to start initially than XFCE does, so I use KDE mainly when I am planning to use a lot of KDE applications, such as k3b, konqueror, Kate, Konversation, Kopete, and Akregator. I probably use KDE 20-30% of the time overall; lately though, I have been using XFCE almost exclusively.
When I want a faster, lighter system or quick access, more often than not I choose IceWM, a flexible, easy to modify, lightweight window manager. It may not be the lightest of all the window managers, but it is close enough and flexible enough that other window managers that may be lighter are not much lighter, nor much faster. It is about the best compromise when it comes to a simple window manager, and it generally gets the best reviews of the lightweight window managers. I probably use IceWM 4-5% of the time, most frequently when I am using antiX.
Fluxbox seems to have a good following among users who are hard core window manager users. It is very flexible and fairly easy to customize. As far as ease of use for the beginner, I'd give that nod to IceWM, but as far as flexibility for the intermediate to advanced user, there are some things that may be easier to do with Fluxbox than with just about any other window manager. For that reason, I keep it in my arsenal as well. I probably use it 1-2% of the time.
fvwm is one of the older window managers. It has been around as long as I have been using Linux software, which dates back to 1995. Like Fluxbox, it is extremely flexible, so it is possible to create many variations from fvwm, such as fvwm2, fvwm95 (which has a default appearance similar to Windows 95), and a more recent project, fvwm-crystal, which transforms fvwm into a lightweight desktop environment with a footprint comparable to LXDE.
Openbox is one of the newer window managers. Based on my memory usage tests, it uses just slightly more memory than IceWM and Fluxbox, but not much more. It is the foundation window manager upon which LXDE, the Lightweight X Desktop Environment, is built. It's main advantage is that it includes modern features that can be applied to create extensible lightweight flexible environments, and LXDE is a very good example of that. |
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tlmiller
Ultimate Member
Joined: 01 May 2025
Posts: 2433
Location: MD, USA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2025 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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I use KDE 4.3. When I need something lighter, I upgrade my computer and use KDE 4.3.
I can use IceWM or the *box's, but someone else has to configure them for me. It just takes too much for me to get them to where I can tolerate them to use daily. I don't do text configuration files, and will never for my desktop. And since most of the lighter WM's would completely defeat the purpose of having their configuration done in a gui, then I just avoid them from the outset.
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Debian Squeeze, Arch, Kubuntu mostly. Some Mandriva. Some Windows.
Desktops: shadowdragon, medusa
Laptops: bluedrake, banelord, sandwyrm, aardvark.
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masinick
Linux Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2025 6:21 pm Post subject: |
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Tim, since you are such a KDE fan (with good reason), I am sure that you don't seriously look at systems that don't have KDE. But have you at least tried out antiX and Crunchbang (#!) Linux? They definitely won't replace KDE for you, and chances are you won't like them much, if at all, but both are quite fast and quite good at what they do.
In the case of antiX, the menus and the desktop in both IceWM and Fluxbox, its two window managers, have been customized well beyond the raw defaults in IceWM and Fluxbox, and while neither of them does all that KDE does, it is possible to get a fully usable system that is fast and effective - and for some people (though understandably not for you) it can even function as an every day system.
In the case of Crunchbang (#!) Linux, it is even more minimal, and an even smaller subset of people are likely to find it useful and usable, but like antiX, Crunchbang is also quite clever and like antiX it is extensible, so you can make it into something more.
Both of these are niches, small niches at that. I'm just wondering if, once in a while, you experiment in those niches, or are they totally objectionable to you, something you'd rather not even experiement with?
I know that I talked Bill Julian into trying out sidux and antiX. He was coming from an Ubuntu 8.10 background. He did not warm up to the alternatives immediately, but he wanted to find out more about them. As he did, his interest grew. A sample size of two means little, but for those who try stuff out, I know that things change. I know you have changed your interests too. I remember when Red Hat and Fedora were your focus as you were in the classes, then it was sidux and Arch for a while and lately it has been Debian Squeeze. That's cool. Each of us finds a niche that fits us best. Squeeze is certainly a good niche. I have been using it for the past ten days with XFCE. I switched it briefly to GNOME today; that worked OK, then I moved to KDE and that worked even better. Sticking with KDE 4.3.1 on Squeeze for a while after a ten day excursion on Squeeze with XFCE. |
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tlmiller
Ultimate Member
Joined: 01 May 2025
Posts: 2433
Location: MD, USA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2025 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| I actually like the IceWM setup in antiX moderately. Can't stand the fluxbox setup though. I don't actually have anything against those WM's. If set up properly, I like them quite a bit. Flux I used for quite a while years ago when KDE was still on v3.4 or so. The thing is for me, a desktop must be DEVOID of anything other than a taskbar/launcher/notification area/clock. Not a single icon of any form, to be set up properly for my tastes. And well, there's not many distros that default to having a nice looking theme with a completely barren desktop. And again, for good reason. MOST users don't want that. I realize that I'm an anomoly in how I like my workspaces, very much in the minority. So I just stick with the one that I can get set up so I like it VERY quickly, wihtout resorting to editing files, KDE.
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Debian Squeeze, Arch, Kubuntu mostly. Some Mandriva. Some Windows.
Desktops: shadowdragon, medusa
Laptops: bluedrake, banelord, sandwyrm, aardvark.
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masinick
Linux Guru
Joined: 03 Apr 2025
Posts: 8615
Location: Concord, NH
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2025 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Makes sense; that's why I choose the systems that I use the most often too - they are the closest to what I like and the way I work, and because of that, and because of the familiarity that I have gained with them, it will take something pretty unique and special to replace them. |
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