4 ms·

I'm new to (learning) programming and already need to manage windows better. I knew I had this need, but I did not know what this was called until seeing GOOMW

by osxwm 14y ago

I'm new to (learning) programming and already need to manage windows better. I knew I had this need, but I did not know what this was called until seeing GOOMWWM's screenshots. I'm on OSX. I typically have Firefox, Terminal, and TextWrangler open while I work through Zed Shaw's LPtHW course. What window manager should I use?

rpicard 14y ago
I think that the window manager is a little lower-level than what you're thinking of. If you're running a Mac, you would already have whatever proprietary program Apple uses in OS/X to display windows and the desktop environment. This is my understanding at least.
- osxwm 14y ago
  Thanks for clarifying that, Robert. The whatever proprietary program Apple uses in OS/X isn't cutting it for me. I spend too much time getting the windows how I want them and it's never quite right. I would like to automatically tessellate my windows as seen in the GOOMWWM. Is there a way to do that in OSX, and if so, what is this type of software called?
  - wazoox 14y ago
    I suppose using X11 on OS X it must be possible to use another WM than the one provided by Apple (quartz-wm). After all, they're providing twm, so there must be a way to run it.
    - tikhonj 14y ago
      I think this is exactly correct. My understanding is that you can run a window manager like XMonad (and, in fact, I've met people who do) but then you will only be able to use X programs and not native Mac ones. If all you need is a terminal emulator, a browser and a text editor then this would work perfectly.
  - avelis 14y ago
    I use Divvy for my OS X window management. http://mizage.com/divvy/ http://mizage.com/divvy/
  - hobin 14y ago
    Perhaps this: http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/6-best-mac-os-x-window-managers-687955 http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/6-best-mac-os-... can be of some use to you.
blakesmith 14y ago
If you're using OS X, you don't really have a choice of what window manager to use; you're at the mercy of Apple. If you're looking for ways to wrangle all your windows in OS X, I'd recommend something like SizeUp or Divvy. These aren't window managers in the classic linux sense, but they do provide convenient keyboard shortcuts for keeping your windows organized in OS X. I use SizeUp at work and home and it gives me all I need in Mac land. If you're looking to up your terminal skills, I'd recommend looking at something like tmux.
- seltzered_ 14y ago
  there's also tylerwm (google it). I'm currently writing my own with a totally different approach.
  - sciurus 14y ago
    Have you tried tylerwm? It looks like what I desperately want on OS X, but every review I've read suggests it's too unstable to use. I'm nervous about paying $10 for something I'm not sure will work.
    - sandis 14y ago
      I tried tylerwm about three months ago and it was quite flaky. Sometimes it would re-arrange windows while I'm typing. Turned it off an hour later.
    - moe 14y ago
      Save your money, it's unusable (windows jump around randomly).
- ikawe 14y ago
  I also found that sizeup mostly fills my WM needs on mac In some ways I prefer it to strict tiling window management like awesome or xmonad. You lose the "windows automatically tile" functionality, but the other side of that is that it's easier to break the paradigm for when you don't want to tile. free unlimited trial: http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ or $14 for a license
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
hello_asdf 14y ago
You can always dual boot with Linux and OSX. I am triple booting on mine, and it works perfectly. The only reason I really boot into OSX is to do iPhone development.
callahad 14y ago
There are a bunch of apps that can do this for you, with varying degrees of automation: ShiftIt (Free/OSS): https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt/tree/shiftit16 https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt/tree/shiftit16 DoublePane ($3): http://5amcode.com/ http://5amcode.com/ Tyler ($10): http://blog.reflare.com/tagged/tyler http://blog.reflare.com/tagged/tyler SizeUp ($13): http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ Divvy ($14): http://mizage.com/divvy/ http://mizage.com/divvy/ There are some old versions of ShiftIt available in the GitHub downloads, but you might want to compile a more recent version yourself. It's what I use on my 11" MacBook Air, where I mostly use the left-half, right-half, full-screen, and center-window commands. If your use case would be similar, DoublePane might be an easier choice, though it doesn't look like it does centering.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- stephth 14y ago
  Optimal Layout (Application switcher + window manager): http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout I just stumbled into it, I recommend watching the video.
  - moe 14y ago
    And they all make you really sad if you're looking for a real tiling wm or, worse, have actually used one before. The window manager situation on OSX is still dire.
sciurus 14y ago
Lots of alternatives were discussed at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4059820 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4059820

by osxwm 14y ago

rpicard 14y ago

I think that the window manager is a little lower-level than what you're thinking of. If you're running a Mac, you would already have whatever proprietary program Apple uses in OS/X to display windows and the desktop environment. This is my understanding at least.

osxwm 14y ago
Thanks for clarifying that, Robert. The whatever proprietary program Apple uses in OS/X isn't cutting it for me. I spend too much time getting the windows how I want them and it's never quite right. I would like to automatically tessellate my windows as seen in the GOOMWWM. Is there a way to do that in OSX, and if so, what is this type of software called?
- wazoox 14y ago
  I suppose using X11 on OS X it must be possible to use another WM than the one provided by Apple (quartz-wm). After all, they're providing twm, so there must be a way to run it.
  - tikhonj 14y ago
    I think this is exactly correct. My understanding is that you can run a window manager like XMonad (and, in fact, I've met people who do) but then you will only be able to use X programs and not native Mac ones. If all you need is a terminal emulator, a browser and a text editor then this would work perfectly.
- avelis 14y ago
  I use Divvy for my OS X window management. http://mizage.com/divvy/ http://mizage.com/divvy/
- hobin 14y ago
  Perhaps this: http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/6-best-mac-os-x-window-managers-687955 http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/6-best-mac-os-... can be of some use to you.

blakesmith 14y ago

If you're using OS X, you don't really have a choice of what window manager to use; you're at the mercy of Apple. If you're looking for ways to wrangle all your windows in OS X, I'd recommend something like SizeUp or Divvy. These aren't window managers in the classic linux sense, but they do provide convenient keyboard shortcuts for keeping your windows organized in OS X. I use SizeUp at work and home and it gives me all I need in Mac land. If you're looking to up your terminal skills, I'd recommend looking at something like tmux.

seltzered_ 14y ago
there's also tylerwm (google it). I'm currently writing my own with a totally different approach.
- sciurus 14y ago
  Have you tried tylerwm? It looks like what I desperately want on OS X, but every review I've read suggests it's too unstable to use. I'm nervous about paying $10 for something I'm not sure will work.
  - sandis 14y ago
    I tried tylerwm about three months ago and it was quite flaky. Sometimes it would re-arrange windows while I'm typing. Turned it off an hour later.
  - moe 14y ago
    Save your money, it's unusable (windows jump around randomly).
ikawe 14y ago
I also found that sizeup mostly fills my WM needs on mac In some ways I prefer it to strict tiling window management like awesome or xmonad. You lose the "windows automatically tile" functionality, but the other side of that is that it's easier to break the paradigm for when you don't want to tile. free unlimited trial: http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ or $14 for a license

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

hello_asdf 14y ago

You can always dual boot with Linux and OSX. I am triple booting on mine, and it works perfectly. The only reason I really boot into OSX is to do iPhone development.

callahad 14y ago

There are a bunch of apps that can do this for you, with varying degrees of automation: ShiftIt (Free/OSS): https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt/tree/shiftit16 https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt/tree/shiftit16 DoublePane ($3): http://5amcode.com/ http://5amcode.com/ Tyler ($10): http://blog.reflare.com/tagged/tyler http://blog.reflare.com/tagged/tyler SizeUp ($13): http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ Divvy ($14): http://mizage.com/divvy/ http://mizage.com/divvy/ There are some old versions of ShiftIt available in the GitHub downloads, but you might want to compile a more recent version yourself. It's what I use on my 11" MacBook Air, where I mostly use the left-half, right-half, full-screen, and center-window commands. If your use case would be similar, DoublePane might be an easier choice, though it doesn't look like it does centering.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
stephth 14y ago
Optimal Layout (Application switcher + window manager): http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout I just stumbled into it, I recommend watching the video.
- moe 14y ago
  And they all make you really sad if you're looking for a real tiling wm or, worse, have actually used one before. The window manager situation on OSX is still dire.

sciurus 14y ago

Lots of alternatives were discussed at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4059820 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4059820