Blackbox WM

Blackbox WM

Blackbox WM is a fast, lightweight window manager for the X Window System. It is very customizable and flexible, using plain text configuration files. It has minimal dependencies and system requirements.
Blackbox WM image
lightweight customizable flexible minimal-dependencies

Blackbox WM: Fast & Flexible Window Managers

A lightweight X Window System window manager with customizable configuration options, minimal dependencies, and low system requirements.

What is Blackbox WM?

Blackbox WM is a fast, lightweight, and highly customizable stacking window manager for the X Window System. Some key features include:

  • Minimal system resource usage - it is designed to use less CPU and RAM than most other window managers
  • Plain text configuration using XML-like tags - no need to learn a programming language
  • Highly customizable aesthetics and behavior through themes and styles
  • Support for customizable menus, application launchers, iconified application handling, and more
  • Advanced features like slit support, multihead capabilities, session management
  • Right click desktop menus for convenience
  • Light dependency footprint - utilises very few external libraries

Blackbox WM is a good choice for older or less powerful hardware that still needs to run Linux or BSD. Its large collection of user-created themes provides ample ability to customize the interface as desired. It stays out of the way with minimal bells and whistles, while providing excellent speed and responsiveness.

Blackbox WM Features

Features

  1. Tiling window manager
  2. Keyboard-driven
  3. Plain text configuration
  4. Highly customizable layouts and keybindings
  5. Minimal resource usage
  6. Support for multiple monitors

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Lightweight and fast

Very flexible and customizable

Easy to configure

Low system resource usage

Actively developed and maintained

Cons

Steep learning curve

No built-in panel or tray

Less features than full desktop environments

May require more manual configuration


The Best Blackbox WM Alternatives

Top Os & Utilities and Window Managers and other similar apps like Blackbox WM

Here are some alternatives to Blackbox WM:

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I3

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Sway

Sway is a digital storytelling app developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft Office family of products. It allows users to create interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, newsletters, training modules and more using a simple drag and drop interface.One of the key features of Sway is its built-in design...
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Hyprland

Hyprland is a fast, lightweight and customizable Wayland compositor geared towards power users. It features dynamic tiling, allowing windows to be arranged efficiently while also supporting floating and fullscreen modes. Configuration is done mainly through YAML files, providing fine-grained control over most aspects of the compositor.Some key features of Hyprland...
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Openbox icon

Openbox

Openbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, derived from Blackbox 0.65.1. It is written in C and licensed under the GNU General Public License.Here are some key features of Openbox:Highly configurable - Openbox allows extensive customization of window decorations, menus, keybindings and more through XML configuration...
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Xmonad icon

Xmonad

Xmonad is a highly configurable and customizable tiling window manager for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It is written and configured in Haskell, which allows advanced users to easily modify and extend its functionality.Some of the key features of Xmonad include:Dynamic tiling - It automatically arranges windows in a...
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Bspwm icon

Bspwm

bspwm is a tiling window manager for Linux that represents windows as leaves in a full binary tree. It features multi-monitor support, per-monitor workspaces, gaps between windows, custom keyboard and mouse bindings, and external configuration and control via bspc.Some key features of bspwm include:Window tiling and automatic space allocation based...
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Qtile icon

Qtile

Qtile is a dynamic tiling window manager for Linux that is designed to be simple, lightweight, and extensible. It is written in Python and uses OpenGL for rendering. Some key features of Qtile include:Customizable layouts and workflows - Qtile supports floating, monocle, max, grid, spiral, and other layouts. You can...
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Fluxbox icon

Fluxbox

Fluxbox is a lightweight and highly customizable open source window manager for the X Window System on Linux. It aims to be fast, lightweight, and stay out of the user's way so they can focus on their applications.Some key features of Fluxbox include:Minimal system resource usage for good performance on...