The Linux graphical user interface (GUI) system may be very different from what you are used to if you are coming from a Windows or Mac OS X background. This guide will help you to choose a window manager/desktop environment by introducing you to several of them and addressing their strengths and weaknesses.

Window Maker is a window manager that, while having elements of a desktop environment, does keep very strongly to the principles of a basic, light weight window manager. It has an extremely simple, mouse driven interface and in some ways operates in the old NextStep blueprint of functionality.

Window Maker is an X11 window manager originally designed to provide integration support for the GNUstep Desktop Environment. In every way possible, it reproduces the elegant look and feel of the NEXTSTEP user interface.

The only things that get in my way of enjoying Peppermint are, unfortunately, the limitations imposed by the still-under-heavy-development LXDE desktop environment, which, while I’m still pretty excited about it, provides a few stumbling blocks to someone like me who likes to have more control over his user interfaces.

As promised, today we’ll take a look at the various interesting window managers for the X Window System which aren’t (necessarily) a part of a certain desktop environment (that means Enlightenment DR 17 doesn’t count here people, sorry, please take a look at the desktop environment guide).

If you’re in a dilemma, just use this post which quickly describes some of the most popular (though not all) desktop environments and window managers. The desktop environments and WMs listed here can easily be downloaded from your distribution’s respective package management system (type “apt-get fluxbox” in your terminal to get fluxbox with apt, for instance).

Enlightenment 0.17 is the next generation of UNIX graphical environments. It is not just a window manager, but it is also a desktop shell. A desktop shell means, a window manager plus a file manager, plus configuration utilitys all in one. They are not separated as usual. Now, let’s take a closer look at all E17 features.

Unlike Windows or OS X, where the desktop and the window manager -- the program that controls how programs open -- are fixed, in GNU/Linux, you have dozens of choices for a graphical interface, each one with its own look, tradition, and utilities.

If you’ve never used Window Maker on your Linux desktop, you’re missing out. I’ve dabbled in nearly every window manager/desktop environment out there, and while all have their pros and cons, I always go back to Window Maker.