3 ms·

My understanding is that tiling window managers went out with the first versions of MS Windows back in the early 90s. I’m truly confused. Why would anyone want

My understanding is that tiling window managers went out with the first versions of MS Windows back in the early 90s. I’m truly confused. Why would anyone want tiling window managers in the modern era?

iotku 5y ago
The main difference of note is virtual desktops (typically 10). While it may seem like a large limitation to not have overlapping windows (aside from modern tiling managers also having the ability to have floating windows) having multiple workspaces automatically partitioned into useful layouts that can be called instantly (rather than tabbing through windows lists or otherwise selecting something with a mouse) can be beneficial to some people's workflows. It's not the end all be all of how you can use a computer, but some people manage to make it quite effective and fast to have a keyboard driven tiling wm.
iCarrot 5y ago
I'm not sure what was the use case back then, but today plus-sized 4k+ screens or ultra wide screens are commonplace. There's simply too much real estate for a single application window.
- chipotle_coyote 5y ago
  It's not a binary choice between tiling applications and just one at a time. Overlapping windows are a thing, and arguably were the thing in a lot of windowing systems for approaching four decades now.
  - iCarrot 5y ago
    I did not make myself clear, yes it is not a binary choice. Yes overlapping is one of the solution. Hand-managed layout (where you just place a window wherever you want) is one too. And so is tiling, which counters the point the original comment made (no use case for tiling WM in modern era).
howinteresting 5y ago
I find it impossible to do programming work on a large monitor without a tiling WM. With one, it's a delight. No alt-tabbing, just switching between many desktops.
- tuananh 5y ago
  the bigger monitor, the more important tiling windows manager is
extr 5y ago
Other commenters are speaking to the ability to have them auto-configure to specific layouts, which is indeed useful for some people. I also find they provide easier window management/navigation on laptops. Rather than using gestures, task view, or alt-tabbing to find your window, you typically have specific groups of windows on specific virtual desktops which are bound to predictable hotkeys. So you might have something going on like: Desktop 1 = WinKey + 1 = Browser Desktop 2 = WinKey + 2 = Email application + WIP Reply Desktop 3 = WinKey + 3 = Multiple Chat Apps Desktop 4 = WinKey + 4 = IDE Desktop 5 = WinKey + 5 = Debug Window + Documentation + Another Browser I don't really have any hard and fast rules for what goes where, I just let things develop organically and don't restart my computer that often. For me, I find the ease/convenience of this makes working on a laptop 10x better. It sounds crazy but I almost prefer working on a laptop screen with a good Tiling WM to docking it with multiple screens. On a larger/multiple screens, I find it's less necessarily to have the full features of a tiling WM. Something like FancyZones in PowerToys is good enough.
- moonchild 5y ago
  Virtual desktops and tiling are orthogonal.
  - extr 5y ago
    You're right they are different features and you could have one without the other. But imo it's the implementation of them together you see in most linux wms (i3, bspwm, sway, etc) that makes my example scenario work so well. When I try to use virtual desktops on windows without tiling/hotkeys, I just get confused about what windows are on what desktop. And if I had tiling without virtual desktops, I would just run out of space, or be forced to use the i3 "tab mode" which I'm not a fan of.
  - howinteresting 5y ago
    I disagree. While it's possible to use them separately, in my experience virtual desktops don't make sense without tiling, and tiling doesn't make sense without virtual desktops.
- 5y ago

iotku 5y ago

The main difference of note is virtual desktops (typically 10). While it may seem like a large limitation to not have overlapping windows (aside from modern tiling managers also having the ability to have floating windows) having multiple workspaces automatically partitioned into useful layouts that can be called instantly (rather than tabbing through windows lists or otherwise selecting something with a mouse) can be beneficial to some people's workflows. It's not the end all be all of how you can use a computer, but some people manage to make it quite effective and fast to have a keyboard driven tiling wm.

iCarrot 5y ago

I'm not sure what was the use case back then, but today plus-sized 4k+ screens or ultra wide screens are commonplace. There's simply too much real estate for a single application window.

chipotle_coyote 5y ago
It's not a binary choice between tiling applications and just one at a time. Overlapping windows are a thing, and arguably were the thing in a lot of windowing systems for approaching four decades now.
- iCarrot 5y ago
  I did not make myself clear, yes it is not a binary choice. Yes overlapping is one of the solution. Hand-managed layout (where you just place a window wherever you want) is one too. And so is tiling, which counters the point the original comment made (no use case for tiling WM in modern era).

howinteresting 5y ago

I find it impossible to do programming work on a large monitor without a tiling WM. With one, it's a delight. No alt-tabbing, just switching between many desktops.

tuananh 5y ago
the bigger monitor, the more important tiling windows manager is

extr 5y ago

Other commenters are speaking to the ability to have them auto-configure to specific layouts, which is indeed useful for some people. I also find they provide easier window management/navigation on laptops. Rather than using gestures, task view, or alt-tabbing to find your window, you typically have specific groups of windows on specific virtual desktops which are bound to predictable hotkeys. So you might have something going on like: Desktop 1 = WinKey + 1 = Browser Desktop 2 = WinKey + 2 = Email application + WIP Reply Desktop 3 = WinKey + 3 = Multiple Chat Apps Desktop 4 = WinKey + 4 = IDE Desktop 5 = WinKey + 5 = Debug Window + Documentation + Another Browser I don't really have any hard and fast rules for what goes where, I just let things develop organically and don't restart my computer that often. For me, I find the ease/convenience of this makes working on a laptop 10x better. It sounds crazy but I almost prefer working on a laptop screen with a good Tiling WM to docking it with multiple screens. On a larger/multiple screens, I find it's less necessarily to have the full features of a tiling WM. Something like FancyZones in PowerToys is good enough.

moonchild 5y ago
Virtual desktops and tiling are orthogonal.
- extr 5y ago
  You're right they are different features and you could have one without the other. But imo it's the implementation of them together you see in most linux wms (i3, bspwm, sway, etc) that makes my example scenario work so well. When I try to use virtual desktops on windows without tiling/hotkeys, I just get confused about what windows are on what desktop. And if I had tiling without virtual desktops, I would just run out of space, or be forced to use the i3 "tab mode" which I'm not a fan of.
- howinteresting 5y ago
  I disagree. While it's possible to use them separately, in my experience virtual desktops don't make sense without tiling, and tiling doesn't make sense without virtual desktops.
5y ago