(LinuxWorld) -- I had hoped to wrap up the topic of window managers with my most recent column (see Window-managers 101: The desktop beyond GNOME and KDE), but from the e-mails I've received I'm afraid readers will hang me up by the thumbs unless I mention a few of their favorites. It just so happens that I used to switch window managers about once weekly just for kicks, so I confess that looking at a few more won't be the most distasteful task I've tackled.
In case you haven't been following along, the aforementioned article described X11 window managers and how they compare to the more feature-rich but bloated desktop environments GNOME and KDE. In general, window managers provide a way to launch applications, move windows, resize windows, minimize them, and switch between virtual desktops. Some window managers approach window handling in unique ways, such as the window managers I mentioned before, like pwm and fluxbox. These window managers let you group open applications into a single window and switch between them by clicking on the application's tab. Some window managers let you launch applications via menu, a launch bar, or even pre-defined keystrokes. What most of these window managers lack are desktop icons (My Computer, My Documents, etc.) and file browsers. You can add your own, however, which is a topic I'll address in part 7.
Even after this article I will by no means have exhausted all the window managers available for X11. There's FVWM, FVWM95, MWM, AfterStep, WindowMaker, and a host of others. I won't cover them all, even if you continue to bombard me with requests, since there's only so much window managing I can do before I need a break. But if you're interested in the alternatives, check out the Window Managers for X site for links and brief descriptions (see resources).
Xfce
The window manager called Xfce received the most requests by far. Xfce is an attractive choice in many respects. Xfce is a bit unique in that it isn't quite as minimalist as many others. You get sound support, a nice application launcher, a decent file manager and a few other goodies with little or no effort and very little cost in computing resources.
Xfce is mostly a CDE clone, the Common Desktop Environment based on Motif. This will be a familiar window manager to you you've used HP-UX or any of several other flavors of Unix that run CDE by default. So it should come as no surprise that Xfce includes the familiar CDE-style launch panel, which sits at the bottom of your screen by default. This launcher has a few default icons including buttons that lock the screen, change desktop settings, switch virtual desktops, and exit the window manager. The rest of the icons on the launcher launch default applications. Above these icons is a button that opens up a drawer full of other icons that launch other applications. You can add more launching icons to these drawers.
Xfce's most unique addition is the file manager Xftree. It's a tree-based file manager, as the name implies, and it is deceivingly simple-looking, because it has lots of little tricks up its sleeve. One of the nicest things about Xfree is the ability to click on any directory and launch a terminal window that puts you at that particular directory. It will also let you start applications on files and includes drag-and-drop capability that works with the Xfce launch panel. You can also launch Xfsamba from Xftree, another Xfce utility which lets you browse Samba shares. The one thing Xftree doesn't seem to have is a built-in icon view (I could swear it once did, but I could be wrong), but you can right-click on any directory and open up an icon-based folder if you also have the Rox filer installed.
Icewm
I didn't receive any requests for Icewm, perhaps because I had already mentioned it. But Icewm was my favorite window manager for so long it deserves more attention than I gave it. I recommend Icewm primarily to those who are comfortable with the Windows 9x taskbar and start menu. Icewm provides these features with a few unique additions without sucking up all your computer's resources, so you can run Icewm on fairly old hardware. One thing I like about the Icewm is that you can add a text entry field to your task bar that acts like a command prompt. This was a handy way to launch applications that I didn't have anywhere in my start menus, or launch applications with custom command-line switches.
The one thing I dislike about Icewm is the way it handles mouse tracking. This is the feature that lets you move the mouse pointer up and down a menu, and the menu selection will track the pointer. For some reason, I always seem to get out of sync with the mouse movements when tracking menu selections, and I find this terribly annoying. Fortunately, this is a feature you can toggle on or off, so if you don't like the menus to track your mouse movement, this won't be a problem for you. I happen to like the feature, which is why it bothers me that Icewm doesn't handle it to my liking.
The other snag in Icewm is that it doesn't automatically remember the theme changes you make. Normally I wouldn't complain, but Icewm makes it extremely easy to switch themes, so you'd expect it to remember the theme you most recently selected. But you'll either have to edit an Icewm configuration file to set the default theme, or run one of a handful of Icewm configuration programs. Two that come to mind are called Iceconf and Icepref. There's also a utility called Iceme for editing the menu selections.
Enlightenment
Window manager themes are entirely a matter of taste, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. But the only way I can describe my current opinion of Enlightenment is to put it in my own personal historical context.
I recall the first time I saw the Enlightenment window manager and the graphics themes available for it. I don't recall what version it was, but it was my first exposure to the possibility that you could make a window manager look just about any way you like. I was so fascinated by the possibilities that I downloaded Enlightenment and got it running as quickly as possible. It was about as flaky as you could imagine on my system, and it was slow as a slug at certain operations. (Keep in mind this was probably all taking place on my 486 DX2-66 machine with a hard drive that probably held less than my current RAM.) But it was so unique that I was hooked for a while. I never even got used to any of its unique features, like the drag bar. I still don't know what it's for. I simply liked the way you could customize themes in Enlightenment.
Now, if you're of the male persuasion (although this could possibly apply to the fairer sex -- you tell me), think back to when you were a kid. I don't know about you, but for a few weeks of my childhood, I thought those hot rod decals were really terrific. You know the ones. They had some sort of grinning face with sharp teeth and a tongue hanging out the side, with flames shooting backward from that image. When I see images like that now, I can hardly believe I once thought they were so cool.
That's how I feel about Enlightenment. These days, Enlightenment runs quite fast on my machine, and it's very stable. But I'm appalled by the garish look of the themes. The window buttons for many of the themes are so small or twisted in shape that you can't recognize what they do. And I still don't know what the drag bar does.
I know that you can customize Enlightenment themes (that was, after all, why I was first attracted to it.) But after having glanced at the theme configuration files, it looks like I'd have to take a two week course to learn how. I know there are some decent themes available. But Enlightenment seems like it was designed for the most outrageous, dark and bizarre looks. Anything else is out of place. So if you're a vampire with excellent vision (for those small buttons and fonts) and a taste for velvet paintings of Elvis, Enlightenment is for you.
There is hope, however. If you visit the Enlightenment site (see resources), you'll find a screen shot of the next version, E 17. It's just a screen shot, and most of the features aren't working yet (you can download and compile a CVS version). But if the screen shot is any indication, Enlightenment may swing back into the realm of sanity once again with the new version. I hope so.
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