A minimal X11 floating window manager distinguished by the two borders it draws around each client and by keyboard-accessible controls. It is derived from mcwm, uses XCB, and keeps the session small by omitting a built-in panel or desktop shell; configuration is set in C source. 2bwm was derived from Michael Cardell’s mcwm and added its characteristic pair of window borders.
X11 window managers
X11 window managers control the placement and appearance of windows on an X desktop. This collection brings together tiling and stacking approaches, including historic projects. Use the screenshots and project facts to explore their visual styles, configuration options and backgrounds.
69 projects
A research-oriented X11 prototype exploring three-dimensional desktop workspaces and window navigation. The surviving primary material is sparse, so its exact interaction model and configuration options cannot be described in detail. 3dwm was developed as a research and development platform for three-dimensional user interfaces.
A minimal X11 window manager that recreates the rio interface from Plan 9, including click-to-focus interaction and simple floating windows. It keeps the desktop surface intentionally small, leaving panels and launchers to other software, and is useful both as a lightweight manager and as a reference implementation. 9wm was written to emulate the rio window manager from Plan 9 on X11.
An X11 stacking desktop with virtual workspaces, themes, menus and modular dock-like applications, using a visual style inspired by NeXTSTEP. Its modules can be launched and configured independently, and text-based settings let users shape both window behaviour and the surrounding desktop. AfterStep originated as a continuation of the BowMan window manager, which was based on FVWM; it later developed into a distinct NeXTSTEP-inspired desktop.
A highly configurable X11 window manager written and extended in Lua. Its dynamic tagging model, per-client rules, layouts, widgets and multi-monitor support let users assemble a desktop from scriptable components rather than a fixed shell. Originally based on dwm code; the project developed its own Lua-driven dynamic window-management model.
A historical X11 window manager associated with early workstation environments; surviving primary documentation is sparse. The catalogue record identifies it as a stacking manager, but its precise configuration model and feature set could not be established confidently from the sources checked.
A lightweight X11 window manager controlled through a command-line client and shell scripts. It supports floating windows and manual tiling, with rules and startup behaviour configured as scripts; the project keeps window management separate from hotkeys, panels and other desktop services.
A historic X11 compositing manager known for OpenGL desktop effects and a separate configuration interface. Contemporary secondary accounts describe it as a Compiz fork that later merged into Compiz Fusion; detailed first-party project records are no longer readily available. Secondary-source accounts report that Beryl forked from Compiz and later merged back into the Compiz Fusion project.
A compact C++ X11 stacking manager with themeable decorations, menus and workspaces, designed as a standalone alternative to a full desktop environment. Its own theme system controls the visual style, while menus and startup configuration provide the main points for adapting a session. Brad Hughes designed and coded Blackbox beginning in 1997, emphasizing memory efficiency and avoiding external library dependencies.
A Haskell and XMonad-based X11 tiler that presents dynamic layouts inside a more conventional desktop session, including panel and task-list integration. Its configuration builds on XMonad’s Haskell model, while the project’s desktop-oriented defaults make it less bare than a typical tiling manager. Bluetile began as a university project and thesis built on XMonad.
An X11 tiling window manager that represents each monitor as a binary tree of split containers, so placement and resizing are explicit and scriptable. The small `bspwm` process manages windows over a socket; a separate hotkey daemon such as `sxhkd` handles keyboard input, and a shell startup script configures the session.
A full-screen X11 window manager written in Common Lisp, organising windows through recursively nested frames rather than conventional desktop panels. Its frame tree can be navigated and reshaped from the keyboard, and Lisp configuration allows users to extend the manager interactively. CLFSWM’s own project documentation identifies TinyWM and StumpWM among its influences; it developed these keyboard and frame-management ideas into a Common Lisp full-screen manager.
An X11 compositing window manager focused on OpenGL-rendered desktop effects, with window placement and decoration extended through plugins. Compiz Reloaded continues the 0.8.x line and offers graphical CompizConfig tools for enabling effects and adjusting plugin settings. The current Compiz Reloaded repository continues development of the Compiz 0.8.x series.
A twm-family X11 stacking manager that adds named virtual workspaces, workspace maps, per-workspace backgrounds and multiple screens. It retains familiar `.twmrc` configuration while extending the classic window-manager model with a visual way to move between desktops. CTWM began as an extension to twm by Claude Lecommandeur, adding multiple virtual workspaces.
OpenBSD’s compact, keyboard-focused X11 stacking window manager, with commands for searching and launching applications, moving windows and switching groups. A concise `~/.cwmrc` file configures bindings, menus and behaviour, while cwm deliberately leaves panels and desktop utilities to other programs. The OpenBSD manual records cwm as first appearing in OpenBSD 4.2, documenting its place in the project’s base-system history.
The CDE desktop’s Motif-style X11 window manager, integrated with CDE workspaces, menus, session startup and desktop tools. It manages conventional stacked windows and exposes familiar Motif decorations and workspace controls as part of the larger Common Desktop Environment. dtwm is the Motif-style window manager supplied as part of the Common Desktop Environment.
A deliberately small, dynamic X11 window manager offering tiled, monocle and floating arrangements plus tag-based workspaces. Users change its C source configuration and rebuild it, so customisation follows suckless’s compile-time patching model instead of a runtime settings panel.
An EFL-based window manager, compositor and desktop shell that provides panels, menus, settings and session components as well as window management. It supports X11 and has Wayland compositor work, with a broad set of built-in modules and graphical configuration for a complete, lightweight desktop. Carsten Haitzler launched Enlightenment in the 1990s as an easy-to-use X11 window manager.
A minimal X11 floating manager with keyboard-based window movement and resizing, sparse borders and optional virtual desktops. It avoids a built-in panel and keeps configuration and interaction simple, so users can assemble a desktop from separate utilities. The project describes evilwm as originally based on aewm, before evolving into its own minimalist, keyboard-driven X11 window manager.
A lightweight X11 stacking window manager for floating desktops, with multiple workspaces, tabbed window groups, menus and themeable styles. Its Blackbox-compatible theme format makes it a familiar option for users who want a compact desktop with decoration and menus configured through text files. Fluxbox began from the Blackbox 0.61.1 codebase and developed its own lightweight, feature-rich X11 desktop.
A lightweight X11 stacking manager from the FLTK project, designed for small systems and simple desktop sessions. It uses compact, distinctive window controls and virtual desktops, with mouse and keyboard shortcuts for moving, resizing and iconifying windows. Its author describes flwm as an attempt to combine useful ideas from several window managers in an FLTK project.
A full-screen X11 manager that organises applications into pages and frames controlled mainly from the keyboard. Its focus is a workspace-oriented frame model rather than a conventional desktop with panels and floating title bars.
A modular X11 stacking window manager known for extensive control over menus, bindings, window rules and large virtual desktops. Configuration is expressed in text, and optional modules extend the core; FVWM3 is the maintained successor line to FVWM2 rather than a separate desktop shell. FVWM began as a TWM fork in 1993; FVWM3 later forked FVWM2 to allow major changes.
elementary OS’s Pantheon window manager and compositor, built around libmutter and integrated with the desktop’s workspaces, gestures and shell components. It can run as an X11 manager or a Wayland compositor, while Pantheon supplies the panels, dock and session interface around it. Gala was designed by elementary for Pantheon and is based on the libmutter window-management library.
A keyboard-driven X11 manager combining floating windows, tags and manually controlled placement with a deliberately clean, minimal interface. Its C implementation keeps the manager small, while scripts and key bindings can provide the surrounding desktop workflow.
A manual X11 tiler built around a tree of frames that can be split and assigned windows independently on each monitor. Tags act as workspaces, while `herbstclient` exposes runtime commands and IPC; its startup configuration is a shell script that issues those commands. Project documentation records influence from i3, Musca and wmii alongside its manual frame model.
A dynamic X11 window manager whose container tree can be split horizontally or vertically and displayed in tiled, stacked or tabbed modes. A readable text file controls key bindings, workspaces and rules, while IPC lets status bars and other programs inspect or control the running session. Created by Michael Stapelberg as a replacement for wmii, i3 grew into an independently developed tiling window manager with its own configuration format.
A lightweight X11 stacking window manager for conventional overlapping windows, with an integrated task bar, workspace switcher, system tray, menus and task list. Its text-based files configure preferences, keys, toolbar, menus and themes, making it usable as a compact desktop without a larger desktop environment. Created by Marko Maček in 1997, IceWM initially emulated Motif, OS/2 Warp and Windows 95.
A historic keyboard-driven X11 manager built around tiled frames and tabbed windows. Users split the screen into frames, then switch among clients within each frame; its text configuration controls bindings and session behaviour without requiring a mouse-driven desktop. Tuomo Valkonen created Ion as a keyboard-driven tiled and tabbed window manager.
A small X11 stacking window manager that pairs ordinary floating windows with a panel, task list, tray, menus and virtual desktops. Its XML configuration covers menus, key bindings, themes, startup applications and tray components, which makes it a compact desktop choice for low-resource systems. JWM was written by Joe Wingbermuehle as a small X11 window manager.
KDE’s window manager and compositor: it manages X11 windows in Plasma’s X11 session and runs as a Wayland compositor in Wayland sessions. Window rules, keyboard shortcuts, effects, scripts and workspace behaviour are configurable, and KWin can also be used by desktop shells other than Plasma. KDE announced that Plasma 6.8 will remove the X11 session; X11 applications will continue to run through Xwayland.
An X11 manager that keeps a tiled primary track for the main window and a floating area for secondary clients. Its automatic arrangement offers a structured alternative to pure manual tiling, while retaining a floating region for windows that do not fit the main layout. LarsWM was derived from 9wm and developed its tiled-primary and floating-secondary model.
A Rust-based X11 tiling window manager that separates core window management from the theme layer used for panels, launchers and other desktop components. Configuration and themes can be changed independently, allowing users to keep the tiler while replacing the surrounding session appearance. LeftWM presents itself as a Rust window manager focused on performance and stability.
A minimal X11 stacking manager with bare window frames and almost no desktop chrome. It deliberately leaves menus, panels, launchers and workspace tools to other programs, making it suitable for users assembling a small custom session. The author describes lwm as drawing inspiration from Plan 9’s 8½ and 9wm, favouring a deliberately unobtrusive X11 interface.
MATE’s X11 stacking window manager and compositor, derived from Metacity and integrated with MATE’s session, settings and workspace tools. It provides window decorations, focus and placement, compositing and basic tiling actions, with preferences and themes managed through MATE settings. MATE Marco is a fork of GNOME Metacity, maintained as MATE’s window manager.
An X11 stacking window manager designed for embedded devices, handheld computers, set-top boxes and kiosks with small screens or limited input. It provides compact window controls and focuses on integrating with a constrained device shell rather than offering a general-purpose desktop environment. Matchbox was developed as window management for constrained embedded systems rather than a full desktop.
A simple X11 stacking manager with title bars, window frames, workspace support and EWMH compatibility for interaction with desktop utilities. It keeps configuration and built-in features modest, serving as a lightweight floating manager rather than a full desktop shell.
GNOME’s traditional X11 stacking window manager, now also used by GNOME Flashback sessions. It focuses on window placement, focus, keyboard navigation and themed decorations rather than providing a complete desktop; GSettings controls many preferences and themes supply the frame appearance. Havoc Pennington designed and implemented Metacity as GNOME’s window manager.
An X11 virtual-desktop manager that recreates elements of classic Macintosh System 7, including its menu bar, window controls and desktop conventions. Text configuration describes menus and application behaviour, while virtual desktops and collapsible windows extend the retro presentation. Takashi Hasegawa created MLVWM to reproduce Macintosh System 7 desktop conventions on X11.
The Cinnamon desktop’s window manager and compositor, forked from Mutter and adapted to Cinnamon’s shell and settings. It manages stacking windows, workspaces and effects; its source includes both X11 and Wayland-related backends, although Cinnamon’s Wayland session remains a distinct, evolving part of the desktop. Muffin is a fork of Mutter, specifically adapted to serve as the Cinnamon desktop’s window manager.
A manual X11 tiler in which users create, split and arrange frames directly instead of relying on an automatic layout algorithm. Its keyboard commands and text configuration provide a compact session for users who want explicit control over every window’s position. Secondary-source manual documentation lists Ratpoison and dwm among the influences on Musca’s frame-management features.
GNOME’s window manager and compositor library: it manages windows and display composition in X11 sessions and serves as the Wayland compositor for GNOME Shell. It handles focus, workspaces, outputs, input and effects, while the shell supplies the surrounding desktop interface. Mutter’s window-management logic was inherited from Metacity and was developed to serve as the display core for GNOME Shell.
The Motif Window Manager, an X11 stacking manager that supplies Motif-style decorations, menus and workspace controls for Motif and CDE sessions. Resource settings and `.mwmrc` configure appearance, bindings and behaviour, and the manager remains part of the historical Motif toolkit family. The Motif Window Manager was developed as the window manager for the Motif toolkit.
OpenWindows’ virtual-desktop extension to the Open Look window manager, adding a map of a larger desktop and controls for moving among virtual workspaces. It preserves OLWM’s X11 stacking behaviour and Open Look appearance while adding workspace navigation. Olvwm is a virtual-desktop extension to the Open Look window manager.
Sun’s Open Look stacking window manager for the historical OpenWindows environment. It provides Open Look window frames and menus over X11, with configuration integrated into the conventions of Sun’s classic workstation desktop. Olwm is documented as the standard Open Look window manager for Sun OpenWindows.
A standards-oriented X11 stacking window manager for floating desktops, designed to work with desktop environments or as a small standalone session. XML files define window behaviour, menus, keyboard bindings and startup actions, while themes style decorations; it does not require its own panel or application suite. Openbox began as a Blackbox fork; version 3 was rewritten from scratch and became a distinct window manager.
A lightweight X11 stacking manager with tabbed window groups, workspaces, configurable menus, key bindings and themes. Separate text configuration files control keys, menus, autoproperties and appearance, allowing users to build a traditional floating desktop without a bundled panel. PekWM began as aewm++ and evolved beyond its original resemblance.
A hackable window manager whose Python configuration defines layouts, groups, key bindings, rules and widgets. It can run as an X11 window manager or as a Wayland compositor, so the same programmable desktop model is available across both display protocols.
An X11 stacking manager that recreates Windows 95-era desktop conventions, including a taskbar, start menu, system tray and familiar window controls. Its text configuration customises menus, appearance and key bindings, providing a retro desktop without requiring a separate full desktop environment. Qvwm’s name derives from the “95 Window Manager” concept and its Windows 95-style desktop goal.
A keyboard-driven X11 tiling manager that replaces overlapping desktop windows, title bars and pointer-centric controls with maximised frames that can be split into panes. Commands and bindings are configured in a text file, and its deliberately minimal interface suits users who want to manage windows without a mouse. Ratpoison is a keyboard-driven X11 manager whose command-oriented interaction is modeled on GNU Screen.
An extensible X11 stacking window manager whose policies, key bindings, menus and window rules can be programmed in Lisp. It is designed as a configurable manager rather than a complete desktop, giving users an interactive scripting environment for changing how windows behave. Sawfish was originally named Sawmill before the project renamed it.
A Scheme-configurable X11 manager based on the FVWM2 window-manager framework. Users can write Scheme procedures for menus, bindings and window behaviour, making it a programmable environment for customising a conventional stacking desktop. SCWM was built on the FVWM2 framework and added Scheme as its configuration and extension language, combining an existing X11 manager with programmable policy.
A historic, minimalist X11 stacking window manager. The sources checked provide little first-party documentation about its configuration or distinctive features, so this description is intentionally limited to its documented role and protocol.
A tiny X11 floating window manager with a compact C configuration header and a deliberately small set of built-in behaviours. Users can add their own key handling and startup tools, making it a minimal base for custom sessions rather than a ready-made desktop environment. The project README cites TinyWM as an inspiration for sowm’s small implementation and minimal X11 window-management scope.
A compact dynamic X11 tiler that arranges clients in a master-and-stack layout and offers workspaces, keyboard controls and a status bar. A plain-text configuration file controls layouts, bindings, rules and appearance, keeping setup accessible without recompiling the window manager. The developers describe spectrwm as inspired by xmonad and dwm.
A keyboard-oriented X11 frame manager written in Common Lisp, where users can interactively evaluate Lisp and extend commands, bindings and window policies. It arranges windows in frames and named groups rather than relying on a conventional desktop panel, and its configuration is Lisp code. StumpWM followed Ratpoison’s keyboard-driven interface goals while replacing its C implementation with Common Lisp.
An experimental X11 manager that models desktops and windows as a hierarchy, allowing desktops to contain further desktops instead of limiting users to a flat workspace list. Its command interface and configuration operate on this tree, making the project’s organisational model its defining feature. TreeWM was conceived around hierarchical desktops, where desktops can contain further desktops.
The classic X11 stacking window manager distributed with X.Org, providing title bars, menus, icon management and keyboard or pointer bindings. Its `.twmrc` text file describes decorations, functions and menus, and its simple architecture has served as a base for several later window managers. Secondary sources credit Tom LaStrange and report that the X Consortium later adopted twm.
An early X11 window manager associated with Ultrix and historic X distributions. Early X11 materials document uwm in the Ultrix and X window-system era.
A twm-derived X11 stacking manager that adds virtual desktops larger than the physical screen, with a map for navigating the expanded workspace. It retains twm-style text configuration for menus, bindings and decorations while extending the classic floating desktop model. VTWM extends twm with virtual desktops while retaining its configuration lineage.
A historic X11 stacking manager for floating desktops, with themeable window decorations and workspace support. It was designed as a configurable alternative to other lightweight managers, though current primary documentation and maintenance information are limited. Openbox project credits identify Waimea among the Blackbox-derived window-manager family.
An X11 stacking window manager whose dock, clip, menus and window controls draw on the NeXTSTEP desktop. It supports GNUstep applications and themes, and uses property-list configuration; the project can provide a compact standalone desktop with a distinctive persistent dock and workspace switcher. Window Maker was designed to emulate parts of NeXTSTEP’s interface and to integrate with GNUstep.
A minimalist X11 stacking manager with compact title bars, menus and virtual workspaces. It keeps the basic floating-window workflow small and leaves panels, launchers and other desktop services to separate programs. WindowLab’s documentation identifies aewm as its base.
“Window Manager From Scratch” is a lightweight X11 tiler with tags, client rules, keyboard controls and a configurable status area. It supports both dynamic and manually controlled layouts, while leaving many desktop services to external programs. Its author describes WMFS as a small window manager created from scratch.
A historic keyboard-driven X11 tiler organised around frames that can be split and filled with clients. Its control model emphasises keyboard navigation and configurable frame behaviour, while public documentation is limited compared with maintained contemporary projects. Secondary package documentation traces wmi’s combined feature set to LarsWM, Ion, evilwm and Ratpoison.
A Plan 9-inspired X11 tiler with dynamic, tag-based views and a file-like 9P interface for inspecting and controlling the session. Its frame layout and scripting interface support keyboard-driven workflows, while `wmiirc` supplies the user-level policy and configuration. Its design draws on Plan 9’s rio, Acme and 9P, and exposes session controls through a 9P interface.
Xfce’s X11 window manager, responsible for window placement, focus, workspaces, decorations and optional compositing in an Xfce session. Its settings dialog and theme system configure behaviour and appearance, while Xfce’s panel and session manager provide the surrounding desktop. xfwm4 developed as Xfce’s native window manager, integrated with that desktop’s session tools.
A dynamic X11 tiling window manager configured in Haskell, where users can define layouts, key bindings, rules and hooks as code. Layouts can be changed or selected per workspace, and the functional configuration model makes deep customisation a central part of the project. Started in 2007 by Spencer Janssen, Don Stewart and Jason Creighton after they explored alternatives to existing tiling managers.
An Emacs-integrated X11 window manager that exposes window operations and workspace control through Emacs Lisp. Its design lets Emacs users manage X clients and desktop commands from familiar buffers and key bindings, rather than supplying a separate conventional panel. XWEM originated as an XEmacs package for managing X windows through Emacs Lisp.