An X window manager is a window manager which runs on top of the X Window System, a windowing system mainly used on Unix-like systems.
Unlike the Mac OS (Apple Macintosh) and Microsoft Windows platforms (excepting Microsoft Windows explorer.exe shell replacements) which have historically provided a vendor-controlled, fixed set of ways to control how windows and panes display on a screen, and how the user may interact with them, window management for the X Window System was deliberately kept separate from the software providing the graphical display. The user can choose between various third-party window managers, which differ from one another in several ways, including:
- customizability of appearance and functionality:
- textual menus used to start programs and/or change options
- docks and other graphical ways to start programs
- multiple desktops and virtual desktops (desktops larger than the physical monitor size), and pagers to switch between them
- consumption of memory and other system resources
- degree of integration with a desktop environment, which provides a more complete interface to the operating system, and provides a range of integrated utilities and applications.
Read more about X Window Manager: How X Window Managers Work, X Window Managers
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