Comparison of X window managers

Summary

This article compares variety of different X window managers. For an introduction to the topic, see X Window System.

General information edit

Name Type Language Initial release Latest release License Memory (MB)[1]
Version Date
9wm Stacking C 1994 1.4.2[2]   2022-01-19 MIT 0.4
aewm[citation needed] Stacking C 1.3.12[3]   2007-12-27 MIT
awesome Dynamic C, Lua 2007-09-18 4.3[4]   2019-01-28 GPL-2.0-or-later 9
Berry[citation needed] Stacking C 2018-08-24 2019-09-21 MIT
Blackbox Stacking C++ 0.77[5]   2021-05-12 MIT 3
bspwm[citation needed] Tiling C 2013-04-23 0.9.10[6]   2020-08-02 BSD-2-clause[7]
Compiz Compositing C (OpenGL) 2006 0.9.14.2[8]   2022-08-22 MIT
cwm Stacking C 2004-07-10 3[9]   2005-08-28 ISC 8
dkwm Dynamic C 2019-12-01 1.9-1 2023-06-18 MIT/X
dwm Dynamic C 2006-07-14 6.5[10]   2024-03-19 MIT 1
Enlightenment Compositing C 1997 0.26.0[11]   2023-12-23 BSD-2-clause
evilwm[12] Stacking C 2000 1.3.1[13]   2021-07-30 aewm/9wm[14]
EXWM[citation needed] Tiling Emacs Lisp 0.28[15]   2023-10-06 GPL-3.0-or-later
Fluxbox Stacking C++ 2001-09-12 1.3.7[16]   2015-02-08 MIT 16
FLWM Stacking C++ (FLTK) 1998 1.02[17]   2006-06-30 GPL-2.0-or-later
FVWM Dynamic C 1993-06-01 3-1.0.4[18]   2021-07-20 GPL 4
herbstluftwm Dynamic C++ 2011-10-02 BSD-2-clause
i3 Dynamic C 2009-03-15 4.23[19]   2023-10-29 BSD-3-clause 3
IceWM Stacking C++ 1997 3.4.7[20]   2024-03-25 LGPL-2.0-only 4.5
Ion Tiling C, Lua 2000 LGPL-2.1-only[a]
JWM Stacking C 2003 2.4.3[21]   2022-10-22 MIT 3
KWin (KDE) Compositing C++ (Qt) 5.24.3[22]   2022-03-08 GPL 41
LeftWM Tiling Rust 2019 0.5.1 2023-11-16 MIT
Matchbox Stacking C 2007-04-13 1.2.2[23]   2016-12-05 GPL-2.0-or-later
Metacity (GNOME 2) Compositing C, C++ (GTK+) 2002-10 3.50.0[24]   2023-09-23 GPL-2.0-or-later
Mutter (GNOME 3+/MeeGo) Compositing C (Clutter) 2011-04 46.1[25]   2024-04-19 GPL-2.0-or-later 18.6
Motif Window Manager (mwm) Stacking C 1989 2.3.8[26]   2017-12-05 LGPL-2.1-or-later
Openbox Stacking C 2002-09-18 3.6.1[27]   2015-07-01 GPL-2.0-or-later 7
PekWM Stacking C++ 0.3.0[28]   2023-01-23 GPL-2.0-or-later 5.3
PlayWM[citation needed] Stacking C GPL
Qtile Dynamic Python 2008-08-31 0.25.0[29]   2024-04-06 MIT 2
Ragnar Tiling C 2023-05-15 1.3.0 2023-06-12 GPL
Ratpoison Tiling C 2000-12-04 1.4.9[30]   2017-04-04 GPL-2.0-or-later 1
Sawfish Stacking Lisp, C 2000-01-01 1.13.0[31]   2021-12-24 GPL-2.0-or-later 3.1
SithWM Stacking C 1.2.3[32]   2008-04-25 GPL
spectrwm[citation needed] Dynamic C 3.5.1[33]   2023-11-25 ISC
steamcompmgr[citation needed] Compositing C[34] 2013 BSD-2-clause[35]
StumpWM Tiling Common Lisp 23.11[36]   2023-11-26 GPL-2.0-or-later
twm Stacking C 1987 1.0.12[37][38]   2022-04-02 MIT-open-group
MIT-CMU
XFree86-1.0
1.2
Ultrix Window Manager (uwm) Stacking C 1985 Similar to BSD licenses
Window Maker Stacking C 1997 0.96.0[39]   2023-08-05 GPL-2.0-or-later 7
Wingo[citation needed] Dynamic Go WTFPL
WMFS[citation needed] Tiling C 201003[40]   2010-03-28 BSD-3-clause
wmii Dynamic C 2005-06-01 3.9.2[41]   2010-06-10 MIT
Xfwm (Xfce) Compositing C, C++ (GTK+) 1996 4.18[42]   2022-12-15 GPL, LGPL 70
xmonad Dynamic Haskell 2007-03-06 0.18.0[43]   2024-02-03 BSD-3-clause 2
worm Dynamic Nim 2021-12-12 0.32 2023-2-3 MIT
Name Type Language Initial release Latest release License Memory (MB)
Version Date
  1. ^ LGPL-2.1-only with naming restrictions on modified versions.

Features edit

Name Configurable titlebar buttons Graphical configuration Hotkeys ICCCM/EWMH compliant Panel for window switching Tabbed windows Themeable
9wm No No No Yes No No
aewm[citation needed] No No No Yes Yes No No
awesome Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Berry[citation needed] No Yes[a] Yes[b] No No No Yes
Blackbox No Depends[c] Depends[d] Yes[e] Yes No Yes
bspwm[citation needed] No No Yes[f] Partial No No No
Compiz Yes Yes Yes Yes Depends[c] Yes Yes
cwm no titlebar buttons No Yes No No Yes
dkwm
dwm no titlebar buttons No Yes Yes No Yes
Enlightenment Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
evilwm[12] no titlebar buttons No Yes Partial[12] No No Yes
EXWM[citation needed] No No Yes Partial No Depends Yes
Fluxbox Yes Depends[c] Yes Yes[45] Yes Yes Yes
FLWM No Yes No[g] No No
FVWM Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes[46] Depends[c][47][48]
herbstluftwm no titlebar buttons No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
i3 no titlebar buttons No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
IceWM Yes Depends[c] Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Ion no titlebar buttons No Yes No Yes Yes
JWM Yes Depends[c] Yes EWMH Yes No Yes
KWin (KDE) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
LeftWM
Matchbox EWMH compliance No No Yes
Metacity (GNOME) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Mutter (GNOME/MeeGo) Yes Yes Yes Yes Gnome Shell No Yes
Motif Window Manager (mwm) No No Yes No[h]
Openbox Yes Depends[c] Yes Yes Depends[c] No Yes
PekWM Yes No Yes Partial No Yes Yes
PlayWM[citation needed] Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Qtile Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ragnar
Ratpoison No No Yes No No No No
Sawfish Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes primitive Yes
SithWM no titlebar buttons No Yes No No Yes
spectrwm[citation needed] no titlebar buttons No Yes Yes No No solid colors
steamcompmgr[citation needed] No No Yes No No No
StumpWM No No Yes No No No No
twm Yes No Yes Yes No solid colors
uwm
Window Maker No Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes
Wingo[citation needed] Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
WMFS[citation needed] Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wmii Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Xfwm (Xfce) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
xmonad Yes No Yes Yes / ? Depends[c] Yes Yes
worm
Name Configurable titlebar buttons Graphical configuration Hotkeys ICCCM/EWMH compliant Panel for window switching Tabbed windows Themeable
  1. ^ Via CLI client.
  2. ^ Via CLI client and third party (e.g. sxhkd).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Via third party.
  4. ^ With bbkeys.
  5. ^ Through 0.65 / from 0.70.[44]
  6. ^ With sxhkd.
  7. ^ There is a window list menu.
  8. ^ Can change colours.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "A Memory Comparison of Light Linux Desktops". l3net - a layer 3 networking blog. 2013-03-17. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  2. ^ "Release 1.4.2 · 9wm/9wm · GitHub".
  3. ^ "aewm". Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Release 4.3". 28 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Release 0.77". 12 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Release 0.9.10". 2 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ^ "bspwm License". GitHub. 2 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Compiz 0.9.14.2 released". 22 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  9. ^ "cwm". Archived from the original on 8 June 2015.
  10. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  11. ^ "Enlightenment 0.26.0 Release". 23 December 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  12. ^ a b c "evilwm - standards support". Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2009-10-26. evilwm releases following and including version 1.1.0 follow the EWMH standard.
  13. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  14. ^ "evilwm.txt".
  15. ^ "Exwm version 0.28". 6 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Fluxbox 1.3.7 - Bam! Zero Bugs!!11!". 8 February 2015. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022.
  17. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  18. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  19. ^ "Release 4.23". 29 October 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Release icewm-3.4.7". 25 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  21. ^ "v2.4.3".
  22. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  23. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  24. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  25. ^ "46.1". 19 April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Motif 2.3.8 Source Code". 5 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Openbox:Changelog".
  28. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  29. ^ "Release 0.25.0". 6 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  30. ^ Jeremie Courreges-Anglas (4 April 2017). "ratpoison-1.4.9 has been released". Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  31. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  32. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  33. ^ "Release 3.5.1". 25 November 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  34. ^ "steamos-compositor debian source package". /steamos-compositor-1.35/src/steamcompmgr.c.
  35. ^ "steamos-compositor amd64 debian package". /usr/share/doc/steamos-compositor/copyright. License: BSD-2-clause
  36. ^ "Release 23.11". 26 November 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  37. ^ "[ANNOUNCE] twm 1.0.12". 2 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  38. ^ "twm-1.0.12 · Tags · xorg / app / twm · GitLab". 2 April 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  39. ^ "Version 0.96.0 released". 5 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  40. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  41. ^ Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  42. ^ "News – Xfce 4.18 released – Xfce".
  43. ^ "Release 0.18.0". 3 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  44. ^ "NetWM - Blackbox". Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2008-03-29. Blackbox releases up to and including version 0.65.0 follow the ICCCM standard, while 0.70 and later follow EWMH.
  45. ^ "Tables". Archived from the original on 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
  46. ^ FvwmTabs Archived 2009-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
  47. ^ Fvwm Themes
  48. ^ FVWM-Crystal

External links edit

  • Comparison of extensible window managers compares window managers "extensible" by user scripts, like Sawfish, xmonad, etc.
  • The Comprehensive List of Window Managers for Unix