In this most recent series of articles I have been higlighting various Linux window managers and desktops. Most of them are old school and still very relevant. We’ve examined Fluxbox and Window Maker so far. Both of these are very lightweight and fast. Some of them are more modern than others. This time around we [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic

Continuing with our introduction to old-school Linux window managers, I would like to bring to you Window Maker. The Window Maker window manager was designed to look and feel like the old NeXT GUI (which was spearheaded by Steve Jobs after he was forced out of Apple.) Window Maker is another entry in the long [...]

Categories: Advice, Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic

If you’ve been around Linux long enough, then you most likely will have heard about Fluxbox. Fluxbox is a desktop that was based on Blackbox 0.61.1, which makes it extremely light weight, fast, and reliable. Fluxbox is also very minimalistic which makes it ideal for certain situations. Although Fluxbox might seem somewhat lacking in the [...]

Categories: Advice, Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic

If you have played around with the Enlightenment window manager you know it is, for such a lightweight window manager, pretty impressive. But if you’ve not enabled compositing, you have yet to see how much you can do with transparency. Although compositing in Enlightenment will require the necessary hardware (a video card capable of using [...]

Categories: Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic

Only three days left before the first Ghacks Christmas Giveaway ends. We have got two software programs and five licenses for each today. WinSnap and WindowSpace are both developed by NTwind who are known for their free Taskswitch XP application. WinSnap is also known as the Windows Snapshot Maker, a screenshot application that is available [...]

Categories: Software, Windows

Over the  years I have used countless Linux desktops and window managers. But no matter how amazing a desktop (read: Compiz-Fusion) I always seem to wind up going straight back to Enlightenment. Enlightenment is one of those window managers that has a very small footprint yet offers enough eye candy to impress. But the appeal [...]

Categories: Knowledge, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic

Ever since the inception of GNOME and KDE there has been confusion among new Linux users which is which and which is best to use. The former question is fairly simple to answer. The latter question, however, is a bit more complex due to user-specific needs/wants. With that in mind let us begin by illustrating [...]

Categories: Advice, Knowledge, Linux, Open Source

The freeware Auto Window Manager adds additional functionality to the way windows manages the windows it displays. You could for instance customize that whenever a program opens it opens in maximized, minimized or default state. This setting should work with most programs and windows, i tried it with firefox and thunderbird for example.

Categories: Tools