Wmgr
Encyclopedia
wmgr was the default window manager
for Apollo Computer
's AEGIS and Domain/OS
. Unlike window managers for the X Window System
wmgr is integrated with the operating system's
own windowing system known as DM (Display Manager).
Apollo's DM, first shipped in 1981, was the first commercially successful general purpose window system. It preceded systems from Sun, X, Apple, and Microsoft, and contained some features that are still not found in similar systems today.
The DM contained two built-in functions, an editor and a transcript, which is a kind of virtual terminal. Additional functions could, of course, be added by user programs. One of the unique features of the DM is "universal editing". All text in any of the built-in windows could be edited using the same editing language. This includes the history displayed in a transcript window, although that text was read-only. In addition, the history was unbounded. It started from the birth of the process to which it was attached, and older history was never deleted, as it is in all virtual terminals today. Another interesting feature is that each transcript was attached to a mini-input window where you could edit process input using the same editing language used elsewhere.
The DM suffered from the fact that it was not portable, and was tightly coupled to the Apollo operating system. Eventually all of the Apollo software, including the DM, was phased out after Apollo was bought by Hewlett Packard in 1989. The X Window System
ultimately became the dominant window system for Unix (and later Linux) systems.
Window manager
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...
for Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer, Inc., founded 1980 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by William Poduska and others, developed and produced Apollo/Domain workstations in the 1980s. Along with Symbolics and Sun Microsystems, Apollo was one of the first vendors of graphical workstations in the 1980s...
's AEGIS and Domain/OS
Domain/OS
Domain/OS is the operating system used by the Apollo/Domain line of workstations manufactured by Apollo Computer, Inc. during the late 1980s, as the successor to the one previously used, AEGIS. It was one of the early distributed operating systems...
. Unlike window managers for the X Window System
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...
wmgr is integrated with the operating system's
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
own windowing system known as DM (Display Manager).
Apollo's DM, first shipped in 1981, was the first commercially successful general purpose window system. It preceded systems from Sun, X, Apple, and Microsoft, and contained some features that are still not found in similar systems today.
The DM contained two built-in functions, an editor and a transcript, which is a kind of virtual terminal. Additional functions could, of course, be added by user programs. One of the unique features of the DM is "universal editing". All text in any of the built-in windows could be edited using the same editing language. This includes the history displayed in a transcript window, although that text was read-only. In addition, the history was unbounded. It started from the birth of the process to which it was attached, and older history was never deleted, as it is in all virtual terminals today. Another interesting feature is that each transcript was attached to a mini-input window where you could edit process input using the same editing language used elsewhere.
The DM suffered from the fact that it was not portable, and was tightly coupled to the Apollo operating system. Eventually all of the Apollo software, including the DM, was phased out after Apollo was bought by Hewlett Packard in 1989. The X Window System
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...
ultimately became the dominant window system for Unix (and later Linux) systems.