Window Managers

Window managers take over where the X Window System leaves off. X was made to be limited, and it can only go so far. When you want to get more advanced, you need something that will allow you to do just that, and that something is a window manager.

As a new learner of Unix, you may get confused when using a window manager. Unix is so customizable (again, a positive feature, not a negative one) that even if you are sitting next to a peer or friend who is using the same version or distribution of Unix as you are, you may see things completely differently on your screen based on how you have your window manager configured. Don't let this stress you—the best way to overcome this issue is by simply working within the environment and learning how to customize it yourself. As you do, your fear of the unknown will diminish rapidly.

There are many different window managers. In this section of the lesson, we will cover the ones you will encounter most frequently, including the most commonly used window manager: twm.