Editing Window manager (section)

{{short description|Type of system software}}
[[File:Schema of the layers of the graphical user interface.svg|thumb|Layers of the graphical user interface:<br />Under X, the '''window manager''' and the [[display server]] are two distinct programs; but under Wayland, the function of both is handled by the Wayland compositor.]]
[[File:Window (windowing system).svg|thumb|Typical elements of a '''[[Window (computing)|window]]'''. The [[window decoration]] is either drawn by the window manager or by the client. The drawing of the content is the task of the client.]]
[[File:Windowmanager ohne.png|thumb|Under X11, when the window manager is not running, the window decorations are missing for most windows.]]

A '''window manager''' is [[system software]] that controls the placement and appearance of [[window (computing)|windows]] within a [[windowing system]] in a [[graphical user interface]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/window-manager|title=Window manager|website=Dictionary.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311131437/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/window-manager|archive-date=11 March 2016}}</ref> Most window managers are designed to help provide a [[desktop environment]]. They work in conjunction with the underlying graphical system that provides required functionality—support for graphics hardware, pointing devices, and a keyboard—and are often written and created using a [[widget toolkit]].

Few window managers are designed with a clear distinction between the [[windowing system]] and the window manager. Every graphical user interface based on a [[windows metaphor]] has some form of window management. In practice, the elements of this functionality vary greatly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/54598/window-manager|title=window manager Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia|website=www.pcmag.com}}</ref>  Elements usually associated with window managers allow the user to open, close, minimize, maximize, move, resize, and keep track of running windows, including [[window decorator]]s. Many window managers also come with various utilities and features such as [[task bar]]s, program launchers, docks to facilitate halving or quartering windows on screen, workspaces for grouping windows, [[desktop icon]]s, wallpaper, an ability to keep select windows in foreground, the ability to "roll up" windows to show only their title bars, to cascade windows, to stack windows into a grid, to group windows of the same program in the task bar in order to save space, and optional multi-row taskbars.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Shultz |first1=Greg |title=Toggling Windows XP's taskbar grouping feature |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/toggling-windows-xps-taskbar-grouping-feature/ |website=[[TechRepublic]] |language=en |access-date=7 January 2022 |date=24 May 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kaufman |first1=Lori |title=How to Roll a Window Up Into its Title Bar in Linux Mint 12 |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/105009/roll-up-a-window-in-linux-mint-12/ |website=How-To Geek |access-date=7 January 2022 |date=2012-02-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kirk |first1=David |title=XP and Vista: Tile, Cascade, or Minimize Windows |url=https://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/188/xp_vista_tile_cascade_minimize_windows/ |website=Tech-Recipes: A Cookbook Full of Tech Tutorials |access-date=7 January 2022 |language=en |date=12 October 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Newell |first1=Gary |title=How to Use Linux Style Virtual Workspaces in Windows 10 |url=https://www.lifewire.com/use-linux-style-virtual-workspaces-in-windows-10-4101797 |website=Lifewire |access-date=7 January 2022 |language=en |date=2020-07-24}}</ref>