Sawfish
Sawfish is a lightweight and extensible window manager for the X Window System. It implements some innovative features like per-window decorations, configurable policies for window layout and placement, full support for Xinerama multi-head displays, and more.
lightweight
extensible
window-manager
x-window-system
perwindow-decorations
configurable-window-policies
xinerama-multihead-support
Sawfish: Lightweight and Extensible Window Manager
A per-window decorator with configurable policies for window layout and placement, full support for Xinerama multi-head displays, lightweight and extensible window manager for the X Window System.
What is Sawfish?
Sawfish is a lightweight and customizable window manager for the X Window System. It was one of the early window managers to introduce some innovative features such as:
- Per-window decorations and layout settings rather than global settings
- Highly extensible functionality via a flexible Lisp scripting interface
- Advanced window manipulation features like dimming, maximization, full Xinerama support for multiple displays, and more
- Rule-based policies for intelligent automated window placement and management
Sawfish excels at customizability due to its Lisp-based scripting. The window layout, decorations, key bindings, and placement policies can all be configured via Lisp scripts. It includes a number of useful built-in functions and extensible interfaces. The small core window manager is very lightweight, so that even heavily customized configurations remain relatively lightweight.
Some of the window manipulation features include things like dimming windows, quick desktop switching, moving and resizing in precise steps, full support for multiple Xinerama displays, customizable mouse warping to quickly navigate screens, and more. It handles most typical operations like iconification, maximization, and so on. Popular uses are in desktop environments like GNOME where a lightweight but full-featured window manager is desired.
Sawfish Features
Features
- Per-window decorations
- Configurable window layout and placement policies
- Support for Xinerama multi-head displays
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Lightweight and fast
Highly customizable and extensible
Powerful window management features
Cons
Steep learning curve
Configuration can be complex
Not beginner friendly
Official Links
The Best Sawfish Alternatives
Top Os & Utilities and Window Managers and other similar apps like Sawfish
Here are some alternatives to Sawfish:
Suggest an alternative ❐
Mission Control
Mission Control is a versatile project management software designed to help teams plan, organize, track, and manage work more efficiently. It provides an intuitive, visual interface that allows users to see their projects from multiple angles.Some key features of Mission Control include:Task boards and customizable workflows to break projects down...
Dexpot
Dexpot is a virtual desktop manager software for Windows that allows users to create and manage multiple virtual desktops. This can help organize workflow and windows into separate desktops for different tasks or projects.Some key features of Dexpot include:Create unlimited virtual desktops to group applications and windowsEasily switch between desktops...
TotalSpaces
TotalSpaces is a virtual desktop manager designed specifically for Mac. It lets you organize your applications and windows into separate virtual desktops or 'spaces', allowing you to reduce clutter and group related tasks together for improved workflow and productivity.Some key features of TotalSpaces:Create unlimited virtual desktops/spaces and switch between them...
MDesktop
mDesktop is an open source desktop virtualization platform that enables users to run multiple isolated operating system environments on a single physical machine. Developed as a lightweight alternative to commercial solutions like VMware Workstation and Oracle VirtualBox, mDesktop makes it easy to set up, access and manage virtual machines.Some key...
Real Desktop
Real Desktop is a virtual desktop manager software designed to help organize your digital workspace. It lets you create separate virtual desktops or workspaces and group different applications and files on each one.Some key features of Real Desktop include:Create unlimited virtual desktops to keep your workspace tidyAssign and group different...
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...
GoScreen
goScreen is an easy-to-use screen recorder and video editor that empowers anyone to create captivating screencast videos. With just a few clicks, you can record anything on your computer screen along with webcam, microphone, and system audio.Once your video is recorded, goScreen's video editor allows you to easily trim unwanted...
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...
Nimi Visuals
Nimi Visuals is a powerful yet easy-to-use no-code platform that allows anyone to create professional, animated explainers, ads, and other visual content.With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can easily customize scenes, characters, backgrounds, text, and more to produce visually engaging videos that effectively communicate your message. No design, animation, or...
Preme for Windows
Preme for Windows is a user-friendly keyboard macro and automation utility designed to help users streamline repetitive tasks and workflows on Windows computers. With an intuitive hotkey-driven interface, Preme makes it simple to record, edit, and play back macros to automate common sequences of mouse clicks, keystrokes, window actions, and...
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...
Deskpose NXT
Deskpose NXT is a software application designed to promote healthy posture and reduce back and neck pain associated with long periods of sitting at a desk. It runs in the background on your computer and uses your webcam to monitor and analyze your posture over time.Every 20 minutes, Deskpose NXT...
SmallWindows
SmallWindows is a free, open source operating system based on Windows that is designed to use fewer system resources and run well on older computers. It has a lightweight graphical user interface that still provides many of the familiar features of Windows, just in a more compact package.Some key features...
Bluetile
Bluetile is an open-source tiling window manager for Linux operating systems. Unlike traditional window managers that allow windows to float freely on the desktop, Bluetile organizes open application windows in a grid-like layout to make efficient use of screen real estate.Some key features of Bluetile include:Keyboard-driven navigation and window management...
Winflip
Winflip is an open source presentation software for Windows that provides an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. Developed by a small team of independent developers, Winflip aims to deliver core presentation features in a lightweight and easy-to-use application.Some of the key features of Winflip include:Intuitive drag-and-drop slide canvas for easily creating...
Wmii
wmii is a dynamic tiling window manager for the X Window System. It automatically tiles windows on the screen to optimize screen space usage. wmii supports both classic and stacking tiling layouts, allowing users to arrange windows in different patterns.Some key features of wmii include:Lightweight and fast performance, using few...
Emcee
Emcee is an open-source Python library for Bayesian statistical modeling and probabilistic machine learning. It provides an implementation of the affine-invariant ensemble sampler for Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) proposed by Goodman and Weare.Some of the key features of Emcee include:Implementations of stretch move and snooker update for efficient samplingSupport...
CLFSWM
CLFSWM (Cross-Platform Lightweight Filemanager and Webserver Manager) is a free, open-source file manager and web application designed to be lightweight, customizable, and available across different operating systems.Developed using C++ and the Qt framework, CLFSWM provides a fast and responsive graphical interface for managing files and folders on your local storage...
Subtle window manager
Subtle is a manual tiling window manager for Linux that prioritizes keyboard usage and minimalism. Unlike dynamic tiling window managers, Subtle does not automatically place or resize windows. Instead, users manually arrange windows into customizable layouts using keyboard shortcuts.Some key features of Subtle include:Keyboard-centric workflows - Most window management operations...
Raskin
Raskin is a free and open-source document editor and word processor developed by Purism. It is designed to be lightweight, customizable, and efficient for writing and editing text documents.Some key features of Raskin include:Keyboard-driven interface with shortcuts and key combinations for common formatting and editing tasksMinimalist design focused on text...
