Window manager
Encyclopedia
A window manager is system software
that controls the placement and appearance of windows
within a windowing system
in a graphical user interface
. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment
. They work in conjunction with the underlying graphical system which provides required functionality such as support for graphics hardware, pointing devices, and a keyboard, and are often written and created using a widget toolkit
.
Few window managers are designed with a clear distinction between the windowing system and the window manager. Every graphical user interface which uses a windows metaphor has some form of window management; however, in practice, the elements of this functionality vary greatly. The elements usually associated with window managers are those which allow the user to open, close, minimize, maximize, move, resize, and keep track of running windows, including window decorators. Many window managers also come with various utilities and features: e.g. docks, task bars, program launchers, desktop icons, and wallpaper.
, there is a clear distinction between the window manager and the windowing system
. Strictly speaking, an X window manager
does not directly interact with video hardware, mice, or keyboards – that is the responsibility of the X server.
Users of the X Window System have the ability to easily use many different window managers – Metacity
, used in GNOME
, and KWin
, used in KDE
Workspace, and many others. Since many window managers are modular, people can use others, such as Compiz
(a 3D compositing window manager
), which replaces the window manager. Sawfish
and awesome
on the other hand are extensible window managers offering exacting window control. Components of different window managers can even be mixed and matched; for example, the window decoration
s from KDE Workspace's KWin
can be used with the desktop
and dock
components of GNOME.
X window managers also have the ability to re-parent
applications, meaning that, while initially all applications are adopted by the root window
(essentially the whole screen), an application started within the root window can be adopted by (i.e. put inside of) another window. Window managers under the X window system adopt applications from the root window and re-parent them to window decorations (for example, adding a title bar). Re-parenting can also be used to allow the contents of one window to be added to another; for example, a flash player application can be re-parented to a browser window, and can appear to the user as supposedly being part of that program. Re-parenting window managers can therefore arrange one or more programs into the same window, and can easily combine tiling
and stacking in various ways.
; Windows Vista
introduced the compositing dwm.exe
as an optional hardware-accelerated alternative. In Windows, the role of the window manager is tightly coupled with the kernel's graphical subsystems and is largely non-replaceable, although third-party utilities can be used to simulate a Tiling window manager on top of such systems.
Windows Explorer
(explorer.exe) is used by default in modern Windows systems to provide a panel and file manager, along with many functions of a window manager; aspects of Windows can be modified through the provided configuration utilities, modifying the Windows registry
or with 3rd party tools, such as WindowBlinds
or resource editors
.
The Windows window manager can also act as an X window manager through Cygwin/X
in multiwindow mode (and, possibly, other X window implementations).
Note that Microsoft and X Window System use different terms to describe similar concepts. For example, there is no specific word for window manager functionality in Windows (shell
is sometimes used in this context, but its sense is fuzzy); probably, lacking such a term, Microsoft avoids advertising of third-party window managers.
. Changes sometimes require all windows to be re-stacked or repainted, which usually involves redrawing every window. However, to bring a background window to the front usually only requires that one window to be redrawn, since background windows may have bits of other windows painted over them, effectively erasing the areas that are covered.
s for X
are available.
are available.
Borders
Context Menu
Desktop Wallpaper
Focus Stealing
Iconification
Joined Windows
Keyboard Equivalents
Menubar
Menu Panel
Mouse focus
Mouse warping
Multiple Desktops
Pager
Plugins
Rollup
Root Menu
Shortcuts
Tabbed Windows
Task Switching
Taskbar
Task Panel
Start Button
Notification Area
Title Bars
Title Bar Buttons
Virtual Desktop
became the first computer shipped with a working WIMP
GUI
. It used a stacking window manager which allowed overlapping windows. While it is unclear if Microsoft Windows
contains designs copied from Apple's Mac OS
, it is clear that neither was the first to produce a GUI using stacking windows. In the early 1980s, the Xerox Star
, successor to the Alto, used tiling
for most main application windows, and used overlapping only for dialogue boxes, removing most of the need for stacking.
GEM 1.1 was a window manager which supported the desktop metaphor
, and used stacking, allowing all windows to overlap. It was released in the early 1980s. GEM
is famous for having been included as the main GUI used on the Atari ST
, which ran Atari TOS
, and was also a popular GUI for MS-DOS
prior to the widespread use of Microsoft Windows. As a result of a lawsuit by Apple
, GEM was forced to remove the stacking capabilities, making it a tiling window manager.
Mac OS
was one of the earliest commercially successful examples of a GUI which used a sort of stacking window management via QuickDraw
. Currently Mac OS X
uses a somewhat more advanced window manager which has supported compositing since Mac OS X 10.0, and was updated in Mac OS X 10.2 to support hardware accelerated compositing via the Quartz Compositor
.
During the mid 1980s, Amiga OS contained an early example of a compositing window manager called "Intuition" (one of the low-level libraries of AmigaOS, which was present in Amiga system ROMs
), capable of recognizing which windows or portions of them were covered, and which windows were in the foreground and fully visible, so it could draw only the desired parts of the screen that required to be refreshed. Additionally, Intuition supported compositing. Applications could first request a region of memory outside the current display region for use as bitmap. The Amiga windowing system would then use a series of bit blits
using the system's hardware blitter
to build a composite of these applications' bitmaps, along with buttons and sliders, in display memory, without requiring these applications to redraw any of their bitmaps.
Intuition also anticipated the choices of the user by recognizing the position of the mouse pointer floating over other elements of the screen (title bars of windows, their close and resizing gadgets, whole icons), and thus it was capable of granting nearly a zero-wait state experience to the use of the Workbench window manager.
Noteworthy to mention is the fact that Workbench was the only window manager that eventually inspired an entire family of descendant and successors: Ambient
in MorphOS
, Zune
/Wanderer in AROS
, Workbench NG (New Generation in AmigaOS 4.0 and 4.1. Workbench 4.1 was enhanced by 2D vector interface powered by Cairo
libraries, and presenting a modern Porter-Duff 3D based Compositing Engine.
In 1988, Presentation Manager
became the default shell in OS/2
, which, in it's first version, only used a command line interface (CLI). OS/2 was designed by IBM
and Microsoft to be the successor of DOS and the Windows for DOS, but after the success of the Windows 3.10, Microsoft abandoned the project in favor of Windows. After that, the Microsoft project for a future OS/2 version 3 became Windows NT
, and IBM made a complete redesign of the shell of OS/2, substituting the Presentation Manager of OS/2 1.x for the object-oriented
Workplace Shell
that made it's debut in the OS/2 2.0.
System software
System software is computer software designed to operate the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software.The most basic types of system software are:...
that controls the placement and appearance of windows
Window (computing)
In computing, a window is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap with the area of other windows...
within a windowing system
Windowing system
A windowing system is a component of a graphical user interface , and more specifically of a desktop environment, which supports the implementation of window managers, and provides basic support for graphics hardware, pointing devices such as mice, and keyboards...
in a graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment
Desktop environment
In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
. They work in conjunction with the underlying graphical system which provides required functionality such as support for graphics hardware, pointing devices, and a keyboard, and are often written and created using a widget toolkit
Widget toolkit
In computing, a widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with graphical user interfaces...
.
Few window managers are designed with a clear distinction between the windowing system and the window manager. Every graphical user interface which uses a windows metaphor has some form of window management; however, in practice, the elements of this functionality vary greatly. The elements usually associated with window managers are those which allow the user to open, close, minimize, maximize, move, resize, and keep track of running windows, including window decorators. Many window managers also come with various utilities and features: e.g. docks, task bars, program launchers, desktop icons, and wallpaper.
X window managers
On systems using the X window systemX Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
, there is a clear distinction between the window manager and the windowing system
Windowing system
A windowing system is a component of a graphical user interface , and more specifically of a desktop environment, which supports the implementation of window managers, and provides basic support for graphics hardware, pointing devices such as mice, and keyboards...
. Strictly speaking, an X window manager
X window manager
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 and Microsoft Windows platforms which have historically provided a vendor-controlled, fixed set of ways to control how windows and panes display...
does not directly interact with video hardware, mice, or keyboards – that is the responsibility of the X server.
Users of the X Window System have the ability to easily use many different window managers – Metacity
Metacity
Metacity was the window manager used by default in the GNOME desktop environment until GNOME 3, where it was replaced by Mutter. The development of Metacity was started by Havoc Pennington and it is released under the GNU General Public License....
, used in GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
, and KWin
KWin
KWin is a window manager for the X Window System. It is an integral part of the KDE Software Compilation, although it can be used on its own or with other desktop environments.- History :- Look and feel :...
, used in KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
Workspace, and many others. Since many window managers are modular, people can use others, such as Compiz
Compiz
Compiz is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. The effects, such as a minimization effect and a cube workspace are implemented as loadable plugins...
(a 3D compositing window manager
Compositing window manager
A compositing window manager is a type of window manager. A window manager is software that draws a graphical user interface on a computer display – it positions windows, draws additional elements on windows , and controls how windows interact with each other, and with the rest of the desktop...
), which replaces the window manager. Sawfish
Sawfish (window manager)
Sawfish is an extensible window manager for the X Window System. Its aim is simply to manage windows in the most flexible and attractive manner possible. Formerly known as Sawmill, the name was changed because another software program had the same name....
and awesome
Awesome (window manager)
awesome is a dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed in the C and Lua programming languages. The latter is also used for configuring and extending the window manager. Its development began as a fork of dwm...
on the other hand are extensible window managers offering exacting window control. Components of different window managers can even be mixed and matched; for example, the window decoration
Window decoration
In graphical computing, window decorations are provided by window managers to improve the usability of a multi-windowed desktop. They typically consist of a title bar along the top of each window and a minimal border around the other three sides, although this can often be varied upon if the user...
s from KDE Workspace's KWin
KWin
KWin is a window manager for the X Window System. It is an integral part of the KDE Software Compilation, although it can be used on its own or with other desktop environments.- History :- Look and feel :...
can be used with the desktop
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
and dock
Dock (computing)
The Dock is a prominent feature of the graphical user interface of the Mac OS X operating system. It is used to launch applications and switch between running applications...
components of GNOME.
X window managers also have the ability to re-parent
Re-parenting window manager
A stacking window manager is a window manager that draws all windows in a specific order, allowing them to overlap, using a technique called painter's algorithm...
applications, meaning that, while initially all applications are adopted by the root window
Root window
In the X Window System, every window is contained within another window, called its parent. This makes the windows form a hierarchy. The root window is the root of this hierarchy...
(essentially the whole screen), an application started within the root window can be adopted by (i.e. put inside of) another window. Window managers under the X window system adopt applications from the root window and re-parent them to window decorations (for example, adding a title bar). Re-parenting can also be used to allow the contents of one window to be added to another; for example, a flash player application can be re-parented to a browser window, and can appear to the user as supposedly being part of that program. Re-parenting window managers can therefore arrange one or more programs into the same window, and can easily combine tiling
Tiling window manager
In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more popular approach of coordinate-based stacking of overlapping objects that tries to fully emulate the desktop metaphor.-Xerox PARC:Although the...
and stacking in various ways.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows has provided an integrated stacking window manager since Windows 2.0Windows 2.0
Windows 2.0 is a 16-bit Microsoft Windows GUI-based operating environment that was released on December 9, 1987 and is the successor to Windows 1.0. With Windows 2.1x in 1988, Windows 2.0 was supplemented by Windows/286 and Windows/386...
; Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
introduced the compositing dwm.exe
Desktop Window Manager
Desktop Window Manager is the window manager in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that enables the Windows Aero graphical user interface and visual theme. The Desktop Window Manager requires video cards supporting DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 2.0. DWM is not included with Windows Vista Starter edition...
as an optional hardware-accelerated alternative. In Windows, the role of the window manager is tightly coupled with the kernel's graphical subsystems and is largely non-replaceable, although third-party utilities can be used to simulate a Tiling window manager on top of such systems.
Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer
This article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
(explorer.exe) is used by default in modern Windows systems to provide a panel and file manager, along with many functions of a window manager; aspects of Windows can be modified through the provided configuration utilities, modifying the Windows registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
or with 3rd party tools, such as WindowBlinds
WindowBlinds
WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface. It has been developed by Stardock since 1998, and is the most popular component of their flagship software suite, Object Desktop. It is also available separately, and as an ActiveX/COM component...
or resource editors
Resource Hacker
Resource Hacker is a free resource extraction utility developed by Angus Johnson for Windows. It is used to modify program or operating system elements such as icons by extracting resources from executable program , program extension ,and resource files.The utility is widely used.Johnson has...
.
The Windows window manager can also act as an X window manager through Cygwin/X
Cygwin/X
Cygwin/X is an implementation of the X Window System that runs under Microsoft Windows. It is part of the Cygwin project, and is installed using Cygwin's standard setup system...
in multiwindow mode (and, possibly, other X window implementations).
Note that Microsoft and X Window System use different terms to describe similar concepts. For example, there is no specific word for window manager functionality in Windows (shell
Shell (computing)
A shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users of an operating system which provides access to the services of a kernel. However, the term is also applied very loosely to applications and may include any software that is "built around" a particular component, such as web...
is sometimes used in this context, but its sense is fuzzy); probably, lacking such a term, Microsoft avoids advertising of third-party window managers.
Types of window managers
Window managers are often divided into three classes, which describe how windows are drawn and updated.Compositing window managers
Compositing window managers allow all windows to be created and drawn separately and then put together and displayed in various 2D and 3D environments. The most advanced compositing window managers allow for a great deal of variety in interface look and feel, and for the presence of advanced 2D and 3D visual effects.Stacking window managers
All window managers that have overlapping windows and are not compositing window managers are stacking window managers, although it is possible that not all use the same methodologies. Stacking window managers allow windows to overlap by drawing background windows first, which is referred to as painter's algorithmPainter's algorithm
The painter's algorithm, also known as a priority fill, is one of the simplest solutions to the visibility problem in 3D computer graphics...
. Changes sometimes require all windows to be re-stacked or repainted, which usually involves redrawing every window. However, to bring a background window to the front usually only requires that one window to be redrawn, since background windows may have bits of other windows painted over them, effectively erasing the areas that are covered.
Tiling window manager
Tiling window managers paint all windows on-screen by placing them side by side or above and below each other, so that no window ever covers another. Microsoft Windows 1.0 used tiling, and a variety of tiling window managerTiling window manager
In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more popular approach of coordinate-based stacking of overlapping objects that tries to fully emulate the desktop metaphor.-Xerox PARC:Although the...
s for X
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
are available.
Dynamic window manager
Dynamic window managers can dynamically switch between tiling or floating window layout. A variety of dynamic window managers for XX Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
are available.
Features and facilities of window managers
Autohide- An autohide facility enables menubars to disappear when the pointer is moved away from the edge of the screen.
Borders
- A border is a window decorationWindow decorationIn graphical computing, window decorations are provided by window managers to improve the usability of a multi-windowed desktop. They typically consist of a title bar along the top of each window and a minimal border around the other three sides, although this can often be varied upon if the user...
component provided by some window managers, that appears around the active windowActive windowAn active window is the currently focused window in the current window manager or explorer. Different window managers indicate the currently-active window in different ways and allow the user to switch between windows in different ways. For example, in Microsoft Windows, if both Notepad and...
. Some window managers may also display a border around background windows.
Context Menu
- Some window managers provide a context menuContext menuA context menu is a menu in a graphical user interface that appears upon user interaction, such as a right mouse click or middle click mouse operation...
that appears when an alternative click event is applied to a desktop component.
Desktop Wallpaper
- Some window managers provide a desktop wallpaper facility that enables a background picture to be displayed in the root windowRoot windowIn the X Window System, every window is contained within another window, called its parent. This makes the windows form a hierarchy. The root window is the root of this hierarchy...
.
Focus Stealing
- Focus stealingFocus stealingIn computing, focus stealing is a mode error produced when a program not in focus places a window in the foreground and redirects all keyboard input to that window...
is a facility provided by some window managers that allows an application that is not in focus to suddenly gain focus and steal user input intended for the previously focused application.
Iconification
- An iconification facility enables running applications to be minimized to a desktopDesktop metaphorThe desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
icon or taskpanel icon.
Joined Windows
- Some window managers provide a joined windows facility that enables application window frames to be joined together.
Keyboard Equivalents
- Some window managers provide keyboard equivalents that enables functionality provided by the mouseMouse (computing)In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
to be replicated by using a keyboard.
Menubar
- A menubar provides the facility to launch programs via a menu and may contain additional facilities including a start button, a taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
, and a system tray.
Menu Panel
- A menu panel a component of some window managers that provides the facility to launch programs using a menu. A menu panel is similar to a menubar, but appears as a floating panelPanel- Art and comic books :*Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art, such as a triptych, a piece of sequential art such as a graphic novel or comic strip, or a wooden panel used to paint a picture on...
, rather than a horizontal or vertical bar. - The menu panel may contain additional facilities including a start button, a task panel, and a system tray.
Mouse focus
- The mouse focus model determines how the pointing devicePointing deviceA pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...
affects the input focus within the window manager. The focus model determine which component of the graphical user interfaceGraphical user interfaceIn computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
is currently selected to receive input as the pointerCursor (computers)In computing, a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a computer monitor or other display device that will respond to input from a text input or pointing device. The flashing text cursor may be referred to as a caret in some cases...
is moved around the screen.
Mouse warping
- Mouse warpingMouse warpingMouse warping is a facility provided by some window managers that automatically positions the mouse cursor to the centre of the current application window when the application is made current....
is a facility that centres the mouse pointer on the current application as it is made active.
Multiple Desktops
- A window manager may provide a multiple desktops facility. This enables several root windowRoot windowIn the X Window System, every window is contained within another window, called its parent. This makes the windows form a hierarchy. The root window is the root of this hierarchy...
s to be used, and a facility to switch between desktops. This prevents clutter of the root windowRoot windowIn the X Window System, every window is contained within another window, called its parent. This makes the windows form a hierarchy. The root window is the root of this hierarchy...
, because applications can be run on different desktopDesktop metaphorThe desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
s.
Pager
- Some window managers provide a pagerPager (GUI)A pager is a graphical user interface feature provided by some desktop environments, mostly on the Unix and Linux platforms. It takes the form of an onscreen window or a gadget in the taskbar or panel displaying the user's virtual desktop and providing a way to switch among desktop areas or...
tool that provides the facility to switch between multiple desktops. The pagerPager (GUI)A pager is a graphical user interface feature provided by some desktop environments, mostly on the Unix and Linux platforms. It takes the form of an onscreen window or a gadget in the taskbar or panel displaying the user's virtual desktop and providing a way to switch among desktop areas or...
may appear as an onscreen window or as a gadget in the taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
or taskpanel.
Plugins
- Some window managers have a modular construction, enabling plug-in moduleModuleModule or modular may refer to the concept of modularity. It may also refer to:-Computing and engineering:* Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components...
s to be used to provide features as required.
Rollup
- A rollup facility enables windows to appear as just a titlebar on the desktop.
Root Menu
- Some window managers provide a root menu, which appears when the root windowRoot windowIn the X Window System, every window is contained within another window, called its parent. This makes the windows form a hierarchy. The root window is the root of this hierarchy...
or desktop background is touched.
Shortcuts
- Some window managers provide a shortcutShortcutShortcut may refer to:*File shortcut, a file that contains only the location of another file in the computer*Keyboard shortcuts, a combination of keystrokes that provides easier access to a command or operation*Shortcut , a Swedish magazine...
facility, which enables icons to be placed on the root windowRoot windowIn the X Window System, every window is contained within another window, called its parent. This makes the windows form a hierarchy. The root window is the root of this hierarchy...
, which can be used to access specific programs or facilities.
Tabbed Windows
- Some window managers provide a tabbed windows facility, that enables applications to be grouped together to share common frames.
Task Switching
- The window manager may provide various task switching facilities, to enable selection of the currently focused application, including:
- Changing the mouse focus using a pointing device
- Keyboard task switching facilities (for example, by pressing Alt-Tab)
- Clicking on the task in a taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
or taskpanel
Taskbar
- Some window managers provide a taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
which shows running applications. The taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
may show all applications that are running including those that have been minimized, and may provide the facility to switch focusFocus (computing)In computing, the focus indicates the component of the graphical user interface which is currently selected to receive input. Text entered at the keyboard or pasted from a clipboard is sent to the component which currently has the focus. Moving the focus away from a specific user interface element...
between them. The taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
may be incorporated into a menubar on some window managers.
Task Panel
- A task panel is similar to a taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
, but appears as a floating panelPanel- Art and comic books :*Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art, such as a triptych, a piece of sequential art such as a graphic novel or comic strip, or a wooden panel used to paint a picture on...
, rather than a horizontal or vertical bar.
Start Button
- A start button is a desktop widget that provides a menu of programs that can be launched. The start button is typically placed on a menubar at the bottom of the screen.
Notification Area
- A Notification Area is used to display icons for system and program features that have no desktop window. It contains mainly icons to indicate status information and notifications such as arrival of a new mail message. Some systems may also show a clock in the Notification Area.
Title Bars
- A titlebar is a window decorationWindow decorationIn graphical computing, window decorations are provided by window managers to improve the usability of a multi-windowed desktop. They typically consist of a title bar along the top of each window and a minimal border around the other three sides, although this can often be varied upon if the user...
component provided by some window managers which appears at the top of each window. The titlebar is typically used to display the name of the application, or the name of the open document, and may provide title bar buttons for minimizing, maximizing, closing or rolling up of application windows.
Title Bar Buttons
- Title bar buttons are included in the titlebar of some window managers, and provide the facility to minimize, maximize, rollup or close application windows. Some window managers may display the titlebar buttons in the taskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
or task panel, rather than in a titlebar.
Virtual Desktop
- A virtual desktopVirtual desktopIn computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the size of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical limits of the screen's real estate through the use of software, This saves space...
(also called a scrolling desktop) is a facility provided by some window managers that enables the desktop to be larger than the actual screen
History
In the 1970s, the Xerox AltoXerox Alto
The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use , making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973...
became the first computer shipped with a working WIMP
WIMP (computing)
In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus and pointers", denoting a style of interaction using these elements. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980...
GUI
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
. It used a stacking window manager which allowed overlapping windows. While it is unclear if Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
contains designs copied from Apple's Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, it is clear that neither was the first to produce a GUI using stacking windows. In the early 1980s, the Xerox Star
Xerox Star
The Star workstation, officially known as the Xerox 8010 Information System, was introduced by Xerox Corporation in 1981. It was the first commercial system to incorporate various technologies that today have become commonplace in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window-based...
, successor to the Alto, used tiling
Tiling window manager
In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more popular approach of coordinate-based stacking of overlapping objects that tries to fully emulate the desktop metaphor.-Xerox PARC:Although the...
for most main application windows, and used overlapping only for dialogue boxes, removing most of the need for stacking.
GEM 1.1 was a window manager which supported the desktop metaphor
Desktop metaphor
The desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the monitor of a computer as if it is the user's desktop, upon which objects such as documents and...
, and used stacking, allowing all windows to overlap. It was released in the early 1980s. GEM
Graphical Environment Manager
GEM was a windowing system created by Digital Research, Inc. for use with the CP/M operating system on the Intel 8088 and Motorola 68000 microprocessors...
is famous for having been included as the main GUI used on the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, which ran Atari TOS
Atari TOS
TOS is the operating system of the Atari ST range of computers. This range includes the 520 and 1040ST, their STF/M/FM and STE variants and the Mega ST/STE. Later, 32-bit machines were developed using a new version of TOS, called MultiTOS, which allowed multitasking...
, and was also a popular GUI for MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
prior to the widespread use of Microsoft Windows. As a result of a lawsuit by Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
, GEM was forced to remove the stacking capabilities, making it a tiling window manager.
Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
was one of the earliest commercially successful examples of a GUI which used a sort of stacking window management via QuickDraw
QuickDraw
QuickDraw is the 2D graphics library and associated Application Programming Interface which is a core part of the classic Apple Macintosh operating system. It was initially written by Bill Atkinson and Andy Hertzfeld. QuickDraw still exists as part of the libraries of Mac OS X, but has been...
. Currently Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
uses a somewhat more advanced window manager which has supported compositing since Mac OS X 10.0, and was updated in Mac OS X 10.2 to support hardware accelerated compositing via the Quartz Compositor
Quartz Compositor
Quartz Compositor is the windowing system in Mac OS X. It is responsible for presenting and maintaining rasterized, rendered graphics from the rest of the Core Graphics framework and other renderers in the Quartz technologies family...
.
During the mid 1980s, Amiga OS contained an early example of a compositing window manager called "Intuition" (one of the low-level libraries of AmigaOS, which was present in Amiga system ROMs
ROMS
ROMS may refer to:*Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems*Ringgit Operations Monitoring System, an FX market regulatory reporting system owned and operated by Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank of Malaysia.*Royal Oak Middle School...
), capable of recognizing which windows or portions of them were covered, and which windows were in the foreground and fully visible, so it could draw only the desired parts of the screen that required to be refreshed. Additionally, Intuition supported compositing. Applications could first request a region of memory outside the current display region for use as bitmap. The Amiga windowing system would then use a series of bit blits
Blit
Blit can mean:* BLock Image Transfer from Bit blit is a computer graphics operation in which two bitmap patterns are combined...
using the system's hardware blitter
Blitter
In a computer system, a blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, that is dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within that computer's memory...
to build a composite of these applications' bitmaps, along with buttons and sliders, in display memory, without requiring these applications to redraw any of their bitmaps.
Intuition also anticipated the choices of the user by recognizing the position of the mouse pointer floating over other elements of the screen (title bars of windows, their close and resizing gadgets, whole icons), and thus it was capable of granting nearly a zero-wait state experience to the use of the Workbench window manager.
Noteworthy to mention is the fact that Workbench was the only window manager that eventually inspired an entire family of descendant and successors: Ambient
Ambient desktop
Ambient is a MUI-based desktop environment for MorphOS. Its development was started in 2001 by David Gerber. Its main goals were that it should be simple and fast...
in MorphOS
MorphOS
MorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the...
, Zune
Zune (GUI toolkit)
Zune is an object-oriented GUI toolkit which is part of the AROS project and nearly a clone, at both an API and look and feel level, of Magic User Interface , a well-known Amiga shareware product by Stefan Stuntz....
/Wanderer in AROS
Aros
Aros may refer to:*Aros , a river in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium*AROS Research Operating System, a free software implementation of AmigaOS* Aros, the original Viking name of Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark...
, Workbench NG (New Generation in AmigaOS 4.0 and 4.1. Workbench 4.1 was enhanced by 2D vector interface powered by Cairo
Cairo (graphics)
cairo is a software library used to provide a vector graphics-based, device-independent API for software developers. It is designed to provide primitives for 2-dimensional drawing across a number of different backends...
libraries, and presenting a modern Porter-Duff 3D based Compositing Engine.
In 1988, Presentation Manager
Presentation Manager
Presentation Manager is the graphical user interface that IBM and Microsoft introduced in version 1.1 of their operating system OS/2 in late 1988.-History:...
became the default shell in OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
, which, in it's first version, only used a command line interface (CLI). OS/2 was designed by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Microsoft to be the successor of DOS and the Windows for DOS, but after the success of the Windows 3.10, Microsoft abandoned the project in favor of Windows. After that, the Microsoft project for a future OS/2 version 3 became Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
, and IBM made a complete redesign of the shell of OS/2, substituting the Presentation Manager of OS/2 1.x for the object-oriented
Object-oriented user interface
In computing an object-oriented user interface is a type of user interface based on an object-oriented programming metaphor. In an OOUI, the user interacts explicitly with objects that represent entities in the domain that the application is concerned with. Many vector drawing applications, for...
Workplace Shell
Workplace Shell
The Workplace Shell is a object-oriented desktop shell produced by IBM's Boca Raton development lab for OS/2 2.0. It is based on Common User Access and made a radical shift away from the Program Manager type interface that earlier versions of OS/2 shared with Windows 3.x or the...
that made it's debut in the OS/2 2.0.