Entries by WebThingy

Window Managers can be a fun way to tinker with your desktop. Some add functionality, some add toys, some strip everything down to the bare minimum, and some just help your computer run faster thanks to their low resource usage. No screenshots are posted here because these Window Managers are so highly customizeable that rarely do two look even remotely the same. You can see what I mean www.box-look.org

Here are the most well known Window Managers:


Blackbox
"Blackbox is the fast, lightweight window manager for the X Window System you have been looking for, without all those annoying library dependencies. Blackbox is built with C++ and contains completely original code (even though the graphics implementation is similar to that of WindowMaker).
What's different about Blackbox?
It's very simplistic; some might even perceive it as ascetical or downright barren. When migrating from an environment filled with images, eye-candy and gadgets, the typical Blackbox desktop can shock a new user due to the sheer amount of empty space. It's called screen estate and some people value it and want as much of it as possible. It doesn't have to be this way - you can add most of the tools and gadgets that you have in other environments.
Blackbox is very minimalist in its approach as a window manager. It manages windows, period. It doesn't do desktop icons and shortcuts, keyboard handling, flashy menus, tools and gadgets. All of these are available through 3rd-party tools and add-ons, which you can add to your environment as you please. It's just not Blackbox's job to provide them.
Blackbox is very flexible! By sticking to the basics, but implementing common standards, it allows scores of 3rd-party tools to be used to expand its default functionality. You can use Blackbox as the foundation and create any kind of desktop you can imagine!
No taskbar. Once you iconify (or minimize) a window, it's completely hidden off the desktop. You can retrieve it from a desktop context menu. Window shading (showing just the window bar) and multiple virtual desktops are provided as alternative ways of clearing up the desktop. "

http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net

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Enlightenment
"Enlightenment is a window manager. Enlightenment is a desktop shell. Enlightenment is the building blocks to create beautiful applications. Enlightenment, or simply e, is a group of people trying to make a new generation of software.
We are dedicated to providing advanced graphical libraries, tools, and environments. Currently, the project is made up of three different components: Enlightenment DR16, Enlightenment DR17, and the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries. While we are best known for the Enlightenment Window Manager itself there is a long history of providing advanced libraries and tools to support the window manager and other applications, such as Imlib, Imlib2, and FNLib which extend far beyond the window manager itself in scope. Today, in development toward the DR17 Desktop Shell we have created an entirely new set of libraries and tools that provide more power and flexibility than any other group of graphical libraries available, The Enlightenment Foundation Libraries."

website: www.enlightenment.org

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Fluxbox
"Fluxbox is yet another window manager for X. It's based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. Fluxbox looks like blackbox and handles styles, colors, window placement and similar thing exactly like blackbox (100% theme/style compability).
So what's the difference between fluxbox and blackbox then?
The answer is: LOTS!
Configurable window tabs, Iconbar (for minimized/iconified windows) , Wheel scroll changes workspace, Configurable titlebar, KDE support, New native integrated keygrabber, Maximize over slit option, Partial GNOME support, Extended Window Manager Hints support, amd Slit dockap ordering!"
Because Fluxbox's small memory footprint and quick loading time, Fluxbox is popular in many Live CDs and for low powered laptops.

website: http://fluxbox.org

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IceWM
"IceWM is a window manager for the X Window System (freedesktop, XFree86). The goal of IceWM is speed, simplicity, and not getting in the user's way. Features include: Fully usable with keyboard, Alt+Tab window switching, Efficient resource usage, Task bar (optional), Multiple workspaces, Themes, Usable with GNOME and KDE environments."


website: www.icewm.org

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Openbox
"Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.
The *box visual style is well known for its minimalistic appearance. Openbox uses the *box visual style, while providing a greater number of options for theme developers than previous *box implementations. The theme documentation describes the full range of options found in Openbox themes.
Openbox lets you bring the latest applications outside of a full desktop environment. Most modern applications have been written with GNOME and KDE in mind. With support for the latest freedesktop.org standards, as well as careful adherence to previous standards, Openbox provides an environment where applications work the way they were designed to.
Openbox is a highly configurable window manager. It allows you to change almost every aspect of how you interact with your desktop and invent completely new ways to use and control it. It can be like a video game for controlling windows. But Openbox can also be kept extremely simple, as it is in the default setup, meaning that it can suit just about anybody. Openbox gives you control without making you do everything.
Openbox makes desktop environments better. By running Openbox inside the GNOME or K desktop environments, you can combine their ease and functionality with the power of Openbox. Your desktop becomes cleaner and faster, and is in your control, when you use Openbox. "

http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Main_Page

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Sawfish
"Sawfish is an extensible window manager using a Lisp-based scripting language called Librep -- all window decorations are configurable and all user-interface policy is controlled through the extension language. This is no layer on top of twm, but a wholly new architecture.
Despite this extensibility its policy is very minimal compared to most window managers. Its aim is simply to manage windows in the most flexible and attractive manner possible. As such it does not implement desktop backgrounds, applications docks, or other things that may be achieved through separate applications.
All high-level wm functions are implemented in Lisp for future extensibility or redefinition. Currently this includes menus (using GTK+), interactive window moving and resizing, virtual workspaces, iconification, focus/transient window policies, frame theme definitions, and many more standard window-manager functions.
User-configuration is possible either by writing Lisp code in a personal .sawfishrc file, or through the integrated customization system (using GTK+, see the third and fourth screenshots on the screenshots page).
If you're wondering why there are many references to something called sawmill, that's because sawfish was originally known by that name, but had to change."

http://sawfish.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

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Window Maker
"Window Maker is an X11 window manager originally designed to provide integration support for the GNUstep Desktop Environment. In every way possible, it reproduces the elegant look and feel of the NEXTSTEP[tm] user interface. It is fast, feature rich, easy to configure, and easy to use. It is also free software, with contributions being made by programmers from around the world.
Window Maker includes compatibility options which allow it to work with other popular desktop environments, namely GNOME and KDE, and comes with a powerful GUI configuration editor, called WPrefs, which removes the need to edit text-based config files by hand. Please see the features section for more specifics on what Window Maker can do, and how it compares with other popular window managers."

http://www.windowmaker.info

Your desktop environment is entirely a matter of preference. You can't argue user preference. While it is a great source of fanboy debate, the truth is that all desktop environments have their strengths and weaknesses. Choose the one that's right for you. Most distribution come with a default desktop environment, while a few let you choose during install which one you'd like to use. You can always switch later but it's not always as smooth a process when you switch.

Here are the most well known desktop environments:

GNOME
"The GNOME desktop environment, is a free, intuitive and attractive desktop for users. GNOME is Free Software and part of the GNU project, dedicated to giving users and developers the ultimate level of control over their desktops, their software, and their data.
GNOME understands that usability is about creating software that is easy for everyone to use, not about piling on features. GNOME's community of professional and volunteer usability experts have created Free Software's first and only Human Interface Guidelines, and all core GNOME software is adopting these principles. GNOME is used, developed and documented in dozens of languages, and we strive to ensure that every piece of GNOME software can be translated into all languages. Beyond the worldwide GNOME Community, GNOME is supported by the leading companies in GNU/Linux and Unix, including HP, IBM, Mandriva, Novell, Red Hat, and Sun".
website: www.gnome.org


KDE
"KDE is an international technology team that creates Free Software for desktop and portable computing. Among KDE's products are a modern desktop system for Linux and UNIX platforms, comprehensive office productivity and groupware suites and hundreds of software titles in many categories including Internet and web applications, multimedia, entertainment, educational, graphics and software development. KDE software is translated into more than 60 languages and is built with ease of use and modern accessibility principles in mind. "
website: www.kde.org





XFCE
"Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for various *NIX systems. Designed for productivity, it loads and executes applications fast, while conserving system resources." - Olivier Fourdan, creator of Xfce

Xfce 4.6 embodies the traditional UNIX philosophy of modularity and re-usability. It consists of a number of components that together provide the full functionality of the desktop environment. They are packaged separately and you can pick and choose from the available packages to create the best personal working environment.
website: www.xfce.org



LXDE
The "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment" is an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment. Maintained by an international community of developers, it comes with a beautiful interface, multi-language support, standard keyboard short cuts and additional features like tabbed file browsing. LXDE uses less CPU and less RAM than other environments. It is especially designed for cloud computers with low hardware specifications, such as, netbooks, mobile devices (e.g. MIDs) or older computers. LXDE can be installed with distributions like Ubuntu or Debian. It provides a fast desktop experience; connecting easily with applications in the cloud. LXDE supports a wealth of programs that can be installed locally with Linux systems. The source code of LXDE is licensed partly under the terms of the the General Public License and partly under the LGPL.
website: www.lxde.org

Please note, there are dozens more Linux, BSD and Solaris distributions out there, but I do not include; highly unstable distros, distros with long periods of inactivity, live cd only distros, networking/firewall only distros, server only distros, or quite simply ones I haven't heard of. Also, if a distros website is down more than it is up, it won't make this list.

So, that leaves the following...

32bit BSD Distros

DesktopBSD
FreeBSD
MidnightBSD
NetBSD
OliveBSD
OpenBSD
PC-BSD
RoFreeSBIE


64bit BSD Distros

DesktopBSD
FreeBSD
MidnightBSD
OpenBSD
PC-BSD


32bit GNU/Linux Distros

Absolute Linux
Arch Linux
ArcheOS
ArtistX
AsianLinux
Asianux
cAos
CCux Linux
CentOS
Damn Small Linux
Debian GNU/Linux
Dreamlinux
eAR OS
easys GNU/Linux
Elive
EnGarde Secure Linux
Fedora
Fluxbuntu
Foresight Linux
Freespire
Frugalware Linux
GeeXboX
Gentoo Linux
gNewSense
GoboLinux
gOS
Grafpup Linux
Impi Linux
Karoshi
KateOS
Knoppix
Kubuntu
Kwort Linux
Linspire
Linux Mint
Linux XP
Mandriva Linux
MEPIS Linux
MilaX
Momonga Linux
Morphix
Myrinix
Mythbuntu
MythDora
NimbleX
Novell Linux/SUSE Linux Enterprise
nUbuntu
OpenGEU
OpenLX
openSUSE
Oracle Enterprise Linux
Parsix GNU/Linux
PCLinuxOS
Penguin Sleuth
Pioneer Linux
Protech
Puppy Linux
Red Flag Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Sabayon Linux
SaxenOS
Shift Linux
sidux
Skolelinux
Slackware Linux
Slax
Symphony OS
TEENpup Linux
tinysofa
Turbolinux
Ubuntu
Ubuntu Christian Edition
Ubuntu Muslim Edition
Ubuntu Studio
Ulteo Application System
Ultima Linux
Ultimate Edition (Ubuntu)
Userful Desktop
VectorLinux
Vixta
Wazobia Linux
Wolvix
Xandros Linux
Xubuntu
Yoper Linux
Zenwalk Linux



64bit GNU/Linux Distros

64 Studio
Arch Linux
Asianux
Bluewhite64 Linux
cAos
CentOS
Debian GNU/Linux
EnGarde Secure Linux
Fedora
Fluxbuntu
Foresight Linux
Frugalware Linux
Gentoo Linux
Kubuntu
MEPIS Linux
MilaX
Momonga Linux
Mythbuntu
Novell Linux/SUSE Linux Enterprise
openSUSE
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Sabayon Linux
sidux
Slamd64 Linux
Ubuntu
Ubuntu Studio
Ultima Linux
Ultimate Edition (Ubuntu)
VectorLinux
Xubuntu
Zenwalk Linux (Zen64)



32bit Solaris Distros

BeleniX
Nexenta OS
OpenSolaris
Solaris Operating System


64bit Solaris Distros

Nexenta OS
Solaris Operating System


PPC Distros (GNU/Linux and BSD)

Debian GNU/Linux
Edubuntu
Fedora
FreeBSD
GeeXboX
Gentoo Linux
Kubuntu
OpenBSD
openSUSE
Slackintosh
Ubuntu
Xubuntu
Yellow Dog Linux


Notes

The distributions listed on distronomicon.com are aimed at beginner to advanced desktop users, chosen because the average person could install and run them on their own. I have excluded server only, networking/firewall only, and live cd only distros because they are not usually intended for the average desktop user.

If you think your distro belongs on this list, feel free to contact me, address is on the about page.

If you are looking for a definitive list of distributions, I suggest visiting www.distrowatch.com