Editing Window manager (section)

== Features and facilities of window managers ==

;Autohide
: An autohide facility enables [[menubar]]s to disappear when the [[pointer (computing WIMP)|pointer]] is moved away from the edge of the screen.

;Borders
: A border is a [[window decoration]] component provided by some window managers, that appears around the [[active window]]. Some window managers may also display a border around [[background window]]s.

;Context menu
: Some window managers provide a [[context menu]] that appears when an alternative click event is applied to a desktop component.

[[File:KDE Plasma 5 - Desktop standard menu context menu.png|thumb|right|400px|alt=Example of a context menu|Example of a context menu]]

;Desktop wallpaper
: Some window managers provide a [[desktop wallpaper]] facility that displays a background picture in the [[root window]].

;Focus stealing
: [[Focus stealing]] is a facility some window managers provide. It allows an application not in focus to suddenly gain focus and steal user input intended for the previously focused application.

;Iconification
: An iconification facility lets users minimize running applications to a [[Desktop metaphor|desktop]] icon or [[taskpanel]] icon.

;Joined windows
: Some window managers provide a [[joined windows]] facility that lets user join application window frames together.

;Keyboard equivalents
: Some window managers provide [[keyboard equivalent]]s that enables the keyboard to replicate [[Mouse (computing)|mouse]] functionality.

;Menubar
: A [[menubar]] provides the facility to launch programs via a menu and may contain additional facilities including a [[start button]], a [[taskbar]], and a [[system tray]].

;Menu panel
: A [[menu panel]] a component of some window managers that provides the facility to launch programs using a menu. A [[menu panel]] is similar to a [[menubar]], but appears as a floating [[panel (computer software)|panel]], rather than a horizontal or vertical bar.
: The [[menu panel]] may contain additional facilities including a [[start button]], a [[task panel]], and a [[system tray]].

;Mouse focus
: The [[mouse focus]] model determines how the [[pointing device]] affects the input focus within the window manager. The focus model determine which component of the [[graphical user interface]] is currently selected to receive input as the [[pointer (computing WIMP)|pointer]] is moved around the screen.

;Mouse warping
: [[Mouse warping]] is a facility that centres the pointer on the current application as it is made active.

;Multiple desktops
: A window manager may provide a [[multiple desktops]] facility. This enables switching between several [[root window]] desktops. This prevents clutter of the [[root window]], because applications can run on different [[Desktop metaphor|desktop]]s.

;Pager
: Some window managers provide a [[Pager (GUI)|pager]] tool that provides the facility to switch between [[multiple desktops]]. The [[Pager (GUI)|pager]] may appear as an onscreen window or as a gadget in the [[taskbar]] or [[taskpanel]].

;Plugins
: Some window managers have a modular construction that enables plug-in [[Modular programming|module]]s to provide features as required.

;Rollup
: A rollup facility enables windows to appear as just a [[titlebar]] on the desktop.

;Root Menu
: Some window managers provide a [[root menu]], which appears when the [[root window]] or [[desktop background]] is touched.

;Shortcuts
: Some window managers provide a [[File shortcut|shortcut]] facility that lets users place icons on the [[root window]] that access specific programs or facilities.

;Tabbed windows
: Some window managers provide a [[tabbed windows]] facility that groups applications together in common frames.

;Task switching
: The window manager may provide various task switching facilities that let the user change the currently focused application, including:

:* Changing the [[mouse focus]] using a pointing device
:* Keyboard task switching facilities (for example, by pressing Alt-Tab)
:* Clicking on the task in a [[taskbar]] or [[taskpanel]]

;Taskbar
: Some window managers provide a [[taskbar]] that shows running applications. The [[taskbar]] may show all applications that are running including those that have been [[minimized]], and may provide the facility to switch [[Focus (computing)|focus]] between them. The [[taskbar]] may be incorporated into a [[menubar]] on some window managers.

;Task panel
: A [[task panel]] is similar to a [[taskbar]], but appears as a floating [[panel (computer software)|panel]], rather than a horizontal or vertical bar.

;Start button
: A start button is a desktop widget that provides a menu of programs that can be launched. The start button is typically placed on a [[menubar]] at the bottom of the screen.

;Notification area
: A [[notification Area]] is used to display [[icons]] for system and program features that have no [[Window (computing)|desktop window]]. It contains mainly [[icons]] to indicate status information and notifications such as arrival of a new mail message. Some systems may also show a clock in the [[Notification Area]].

;Title bars
: A [[title bar]] is a [[window decoration]] component some window managers provide at the top of each window. The [[titlebar]] is typically used to display the name of the application, or the name of the open document, and may provide title bar buttons for minimizing, maximizing, closing or rolling up of application windows.

;Title bar buttons
: Title bar buttons are included in the [[title bar]] of some window managers, and provide the facility to minimize, maximize, rollup or close application windows. Some window managers may display the [[titlebar]] buttons in the [[taskbar]] or [[task panel]], rather than in a [[titlebar]].

;Virtual desktop
: A [[virtual desktop]] (also called a scrolling desktop) is a facility some window managers provided that lets the desktop be larger than the actual screen

=== {{Anchor|active window}}Windows navigation ===
An active window is the currently focused [[window (computing)|window]] in the current window manager. Different window managers indicate the currently-active window in different ways and allow the user to switch between windows in different ways. For example, in Microsoft Windows, if both [[Notepad (Windows)|Notepad]] and [[Microsoft Paint]] are open, clicking in the [[Notepad (Windows)|Notepad]] window will cause that window to become active. In Windows, the active window is indicated by having a different colored title bar. Clicking is not the only way of selecting an active window, however: some window managers (such as [[FVWM]]) make the window under the mouse pointer active—simply moving the mouse is sufficient to switch windows; a click is not needed.

Window managers often provide a way to select the active window using the keyboard as an alternative to the mouse. One typical key combination is [[Alt+Tab]], used by Windows and [[KDE]] (by default, though this is user-configurable); another is [[apple key]]-tilde, used by Macintosh. Pressing the appropriate key combination typically cycles through all visible windows in some order, though other actions are possible.

Many, though not all, window managers provide a region of the screen containing some kind of visual control (often a button) for each window on the screen. Each button typically contains the title of the window and may also contain an icon. This area of the screen generally provides some kind of visual indication of which window is active—for example, the active window's button may appear “pushed in”. It is also usually possible to switch the active window by clicking on the appropriate button. In Microsoft Windows, this area of the screen is called the ''taskbar''; in Apple Macintosh systems this area of the screen is called the dock.

The active window may not always lie in front of all other windows on the screen. The active window is simply the window to which keys typed on the keyboard are sent; it may be visually obscured by other windows. This is especially true in window managers which do not require a click to change active windows: [[FVWM]], for example, makes active the window 
under the mouse cursor but does not change its [[Z-order]] (the order in which windows appear, measured from background to foreground). Instead, it is necessary to click on the border of the window to bring it to the foreground. There are also situations in click-to-focus window managers such as Microsoft Windows where the active window may be obscured; however, this is much less common.