Open Source Linux Window Managers
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Window Managers for Linux
View 9 business solutionsBrowse free open source Window Managers and projects for Linux below. Use the toggles on the left to filter open source Window Managers by OS, license, language, programming language, and project status.
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Bodhi Linux
A minimalist, enlightened Linux distribution
Bodhi is a minimalistic, enlightened, Linux desktop. Bodhi Linux is extremely lightweight and highly customizable. Bodhi is suitable for both Linux newcomers and experienced users. The Ubuntu LTS assures stability for years and the Bodhi Team is very open to all suggestions and requests from users and willing to help. -
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Archcraft
Yet another minimal Linux distribution, based on Arch Linux.
Archcraft is an arch-based rolling-release distribution aimed at users who cares more about minimalism and aesthetics of their desktop. It comes pre-configured with various lightweight applications which makes it super fast. It can run under 500Mb of memory. There's no desktop environment in (main) Archcraft, just two highly configured window managers - Openbox and Bspwm. The default username & password is 'liveuser' for live ISO. The installer can be found in the app launcher and in openbox menu under the Application > System category, namely 'Install Archcraft'. Archcraft uses two Installers, Calamares and ABIF -
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Enlightenment is a window manager for the X11 windowing system. Its design goal is to be as configurable as possible - in look AND in feel.
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Window Maker Live
Window Maker Live Linux Distribution
Window Maker Live is an installable Linux Live ISO based on the current Trixie branch of Debian. The system uses the Window Maker window manager as the default graphical user interface. Window Maker Live's components have been carefully preconfigured and the desktop environment has a consistent visual appearance. Window Maker Live integrates selected components from other desktop environments such as XFCE4, MATE, LXQT, with a particular focus on GNUstep. The main idea behind this project is to integrate the Window Maker window manager as default user interface on top of a standard Debian/Trixie base system. It also serves as an alternate installation medium for Debian/Trixie. The second main idea not directly visible on the surface level is the inclusion of many useful command line utilities and tools for system administration. This effectively turns wmlive into a UNIX administrator's workbench for rescue and repair operations. -
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Mabox Linux
Lightweight ready to use OpenBox Desktop Rolling-release Manjaro based
Mabox is a Manjaro based, desktop Linux distribution. The project ships with Openbox as the default desktop with pinch of customistations and home-brewed tools, like improved menu, side-panels and Mabox Control Center. Works great even on weaker computers. -
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Fluxbox is a X11 windowmanager build for speed and flexibility.
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CDE - Common Desktop Environment
The Common Desktop Environment, the classic UNIX desktop
The Common Desktop Environment was created by a collaboration of Sun, HP, IBM, DEC, SCO, Fujitsu and Hitachi. Used on a selection of commercial UNIXs, it is now available as open-source software for the first time. For support, see: https://sourceforge.net/p/cdesktopenv/wiki/Home/ -
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TaskbarX
TaskbarX: Customize taskbar icons with animations for a sleek Windows.
TaskbarX offers precise control over taskbar icon placement, providing a Windows dock-like ambiance. Enjoy customizable animations, speeds, and positioning options. Easily tailor your taskbar to your preferences, with support for vertical taskbars and multiple instances. Developed since May 6, 2018, under the aliases FalconX and Falcon10, TaskbarX ensures a seamless user experience. -
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Mac OS X Transformation Pack. Macbuntu is an open-source program, designed to transform Linux’s appearance and layout into a Mac OS X environment. Although Macbuntu is dedicated to Ubuntu Linux OS, it could be used in other OS based on Debian/GTK
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A circular, oval, and spiral dock for Windows implemented in .Net using C#. It is based on the idea of pie menus but in a dock form. Official Hompage: http://circledock.wikidot.com
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LinuxMint 22.3 XFCE RU/EN
Linux Mint 22.3 "Zara" XFCE (RU/EN) by KDE_MintyFlow
A custom build of Linux Mint 22.3 "Zara" featuring lightweight XFCE desktop environments. Optimized for performance and stability. Includes Russian and English languages out of the box. Pre-installed essential software and codecs. Perfect for low-end hardware and older PCs. Fast, clean, and ready to use. A custom build of Linux Mint 22.3 "Zara" with lightweight XFCE desktop environments. Optimized for speed and stability. Full support for Russian and English languages. Pre-installed essential software and codecs. Ideal for low-end hardware and older computers. Fast, clean, and ready to use immediately after installation. Tested on an Acer Extensa 5630EZ (2Ghz 2RAM) The "Windows App Support" build differs only in that it includes additional scripts to support Windows applications on Linux, which ensures a smoother transition for Windows users to Linux. Everything works out of the box. Just install, click, and go! -
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Bismuth
KDE Plasma add-on, that tiles your windows automatically
KDE Plasma add-on, that tiles your windows automatically and lets you manage them via keyboard, similarly to i3, Sway or dwm. Arrange your windows in different grids to minimize mouse usage. Save your time by automatically managing windows on your screen. Power up your workflow using native Plasma features - Virtual Desktops and Activities. -
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Rofi
A window switcher, application launcher and dmenu replacement
Rofi started as a clone of the simple switcher, written by Sean Pringle - a popup window switcher roughly based on a super switcher. Simpleswitcher laid the foundations, and therefore Sean Pringle deserves most of the credit for this tool. Rofi (renamed, as it lost the simple property) has been extended with extra features, like an application launcher and ssh-launcher, and can act as a drop-in menu replacement, making it a very versatile tool. Rofi, like dmenu, will provide the user with a textual list of options where one or more can be selected. This can either be running an application, selecting a window, or options provided by an external script. It's not an application that can support every possible use case. It tries to be generic enough to be usable by everybody. Rofi has several built-in modes implementing common use cases and can be extended by scripts (either called from Rofi or calling Rofi) or plugins. -
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SWM
Simple stacking window manager for X11
SWM is a simple stacking window manager for X. SWM is meant to be controlled using X events and swmctl, its custom command-sending tool. X events could be sent using utilities like xdotool or wmctrl. Their commands, as well as swmctl ones could be mapped to keyboard shortcuts using a utility like sxhkd. You can find an example sxhkd config in the examples. -
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Menu Maker is 100% Python heuristics-driven menu generator for a number of X Window Managers and desktop environments. It features large knowledge base of known programs, powerful and flexible search algorithms, persistence of menus across several WMs
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Arc Dark IceWM theme
Arc-Dark theme for IceWM
Fork of Arc-Dark theme for IceWM to keep it up to date and fix broken stuff. -
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screenrotate
Small script used to automatically change the various screen rotation
This program was originally written for the Lenovo flex 5. But if your laptop has iio-sensor-proxy installed and supports it, automatic rotation should work on any laptop. Since version 1.7 I use an ASUS ROG Flow. Therefore new features and patches will be available first on the asus_rog_flow branch. -
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Tiling Shell
Extend Gnome Shell with advanced tiling window management
Extend Gnome Shell with advanced tiling window management. Supports multiple monitors, Windows 11 Snap Assistant, Fancy Zones, customised tiling layouts and more. This is a Gnome Shell extension implementing modern windows tiling system by extending GNOME's default 2 columns to any layout you want! Can be installed on Gnome Shells from 40 to 46 on X11 and Wayland: the most recent GNOME Shell is supported, and older releases will include all the features and bug fixes. -
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icewm is a window manager for the X Window System. The features of icewm are speed, simplicity, and not getting in the user's way.
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Blackbox is that fast, light window manager you have been looking for without all those annoying library dependancies. If you have a C++ compiler and the X Window System you can compile and use it.
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AfterStep is a window manager for the Unix X Window System. Originally based on the look and feel of the NeXTStep interface, it has evolved into its own creature with interest expressed by GNUstep, to make AfterStep the window manager of choice for X
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Pop Shell
Keyboard-driven layer for GNOME Shell
Pop Shell is a core component of the Pop!_OS desktop experience that extends and customizes the GNOME Shell environment to provide enhanced usability, productivity, and workflow management. It introduces features such as automatic tiling window management, workspace organization, and keyboard-driven navigation, transforming the traditional GNOME interface into a more efficient and developer-friendly environment. The project acts as a bridge between the base GNOME system and the customized COSMIC experience that Pop!_OS users interact with. It focuses heavily on improving multitasking by enabling dynamic window arrangements and quick switching between workspaces. The shell modifications also include UI enhancements such as a dock, application launcher, and system controls tailored for both mouse and keyboard usage. It integrates tightly with system components like power management and GPU switching, which are important features of Pop!_OS. -
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Rectangle
Move and resize windows on macOS with keyboard shortcuts
Rectangle is a window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift. -
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penrose
A library for writing an X11 tiling window manager
Penrose is a modular library for configuring your own X11 window manager in Rust. This means that, unlike most other tiling window managers, Penrose is not a binary that you install on your system. Instead, you use it like a normal dependency in your own crate for writing your own window manager. Don't worry, the top-level API is well documented and a lot of things will work out of the box, and if you fancy digging deeper you'll find lots of opportunities to customize things to your liking. Penrose was born out of my failed attempts to refactor the dwm codebase into something that I could more easily understand and hack on. While I very much admire and aim for minimalism in code, I personally feel that it becomes a problem when your code base starts playing code golf to keep things short for the sake of it.
