Alternatives to Window Maker

An X11 stacking window manager that reproduces the look and feel of NeXTSTEP. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Window Maker.

  • Openbox

    Manage X11 windows with a configurable stacking window manager.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Openbox is another configurable X11 stacking window manager with custom menus and window rules, but drops the NeXTSTEP look and needs separate panels and launchers.

  • FVWM3

    A highly configurable X11 window manager, the successor to fvwm2, with multi-monitor support.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    FVWM3 is an extremely configurable X11 window manager with RandR multi-monitor support and active development, but its configuration has a steep learning curve.

  • IceWM

    A lightweight X11 window manager with a taskbar, workspaces and a familiar Windows-like layout.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    IceWM trades the NeXT-style dock for a Windows-like layout with a built-in taskbar, tray and menu, keeping low resource use on X11.

  • JWM

    Joe's Window Manager, a lightweight stacking window manager for X11 written in C.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    JWM is a very small X11 stacking window manager needing only Xlib, with a plain appearance and no NeXTSTEP styling or dockapps.

  • Enlightenment

    A window manager, compositor and minimal desktop for Linux, BSD and other UNIX systems.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Enlightenment combines window manager, compositor and desktop shell built on EFL, with experimental Wayland support and source-only official releases.

  • labwc

    A lightweight wlroots-based stacking Wayland compositor inspired by Openbox.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    labwc moves to Wayland as a lightweight stacking compositor inspired by Openbox, needing other programs for panels and a complete desktop.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.