Welcome to my guide to window managers and desktop environments for The X Window System, as used mainly by Linux and UNIX operating systems.

The implementation of the X suite allows for the creation of a wide variety of graphical window managers. Although there is a great website that documents the wide array of window managers both large and small called xwinman lets take a look at window managers roughly in order of appearance.

For the last 40 years, Unix operating systems have helped to power mission-critical IT operations around the globe. Now, as Unix enters middle age, its backers are busily developing the new specifications that they hope will carry the OS forward into the next age of computing

Window Maker is a window manager that, while having elements of a desktop environment, does keep very strongly to the principles of a basic, light weight window manager. It has an extremely simple, mouse driven interface and in some ways operates in the old NextStep blueprint of functionality.

A lot people read and enjoyed our previous article, "From the archives: the best distros of 2000", so we had a hunt around in the dark, damp cellar where old copies of Linux Format magazine live, and dug up another gem, this time from issue 2: a group test of the best window managers, complete with screenshots.

After getting a lot of feedback from the crowd regarding window managers I’ve decided to try a few out.

Although I have some doubts that XFCE is "so very much lighter" than GNOME (GNOME 2.20 doesn't take too much memory if you don't start all kind of crap), it is still lighter, and in a few years there will be less and less antiquated computers who require extra-light window managers (Fluxbox, Openbox, Blackbox, WindowMaker, IceWM).

Since I have been testing Kubuntu for around a month now, I figured it would only be fitting that I follow up with a full review. The verdict? This is the best Kubuntu release in over three years. Read on to find out why.

This post describes how to install and use xmonad, its keyboard shortcuts, basic terminology involved with tiling window managers. And a little bit info on other available tiling window managers.