4 ms·

Slate: Tiling window management for OS X

170 points by jrajav 14y ago

nuttendorfer 14y ago
Nice to see such thorough documentation like in this project!
zdw 14y ago
This is, bar none, the best automated window manager I've used in OS X. I cribbed these from one of the examples, but my favorite "beyond just resizing" commands are: bind ;:cmd;ctrl throw previous Which sends the active window to my second display, and bind /:cmd;ctrl hint ASDFGHJKL Which overlays all windows on screen with qwerty home row letters, so I can foreground any of them with one more keystroke.
hinathan 14y ago
I paid for Divvy.app but may switch to this - love the configurability.
- askedrelic 14y ago
  Divvy has seems pretty dead to me, I haven't seen any new features in months? maybe years? It works well, but after seeing the new crop of window managers, it's too simple. The configuration isn't the most flexible and not easy to sync configurations between computers.
  - jhenkens 14y ago
    Divvy is amazing for a dumb window manager. I look forward to trying out slate.
mtklein 14y ago
Amazing. I've always wanted exactly this, and now I have it: bind right:alt push right bar-resize:screenSizeX/2 bind left:alt push left bar-resize:screenSizeX/2 bind up:alt push left bar-resize:screenSizeX*2/3 bind down:alt push right bar-resize:screenSizeX/3
tom_usher 14y ago
This is by far my favourite window manager for OSX - one of my favourite uses for it is 'layouts'. I define a layout for different 'modes' of a typical workday and switch between them with keyboard shortcuts: - WebDev, push Chrome to the left, iTerm to the right - Dev - fullscreen iTerm, and inversely, Web - fullscreen Chrome. - Support - Mail on one side, browser on another One thing I wish it had was Spaces support; so I could set up a layout across multiple spaces. Another great feature is 'default' - I switch between a standing desk setup and my laptop (seated) a couple of times during the day by enabling/disabling my second monitor. Slate is set up to rearrange my windows how I like them for both setups automatically when a change of monitors is detected.
- 8ig8 14y ago
  I haven't used Slate, but I agree that spaces support might be a useful feature. I've been experimenting with spaces for when I'm not attached to an external display.
metaguri 14y ago
If you prefer something a little more simple, Spectacle is a free program similar to ShiftIt and SizeUp. Basically it's shortcuts to put windows in any half or quarter of your screen, centered, maximized, or send to other monitors. On the app store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectacle/id487069743?mt=12 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectacle/id487069743?mt=12 (I have no affiliation with this program. But I like it.)
- jrajav 14y ago
  A Spectacle fork on the HN front page* was the reason I submitted Slate (which I also have no affiliation with). Now the circle is complete! The more attention paid to these excellent apps, the better. We sorely need a solid, mature, and open tiler on OS X. Slate is the best option I've used so far, and by far the most thought-out, featureful, and configurable, but it's not perfect. I've run into memory leaks a few times and some of the features are still a little quirky. *: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4589446 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4589446
- kiennt 14y ago
  I just used Spectacle, it work well. Spectable is helpful and easy to use. But after that, i try Slate. At the beginning, it quite complex to config. But after 5 minutes, i really love Slate. Slate is more flexible then Spectable.
  - emgsilva 14y ago
    The same here... Spectacle is very simple to setup... But Slate is so much more flexible. After some minutes I covered all my uses of Spectacle and introduced some new ones (moving windows around is just amazing...). Great job from Slate developers, keep up with the good work!
- 100k 14y ago
  Another app worth checking out is Divvy. It can easily resize windows to a selected number of rectangles on your screen. I use it to keep my text editor at exactly 1/2 my screen and arrange my Terminal windows.
cabbeer 14y ago
Any windows alternative?
- jrajav 14y ago
  You probably already know that you can do Win+<Left/right arrow> to maximize to half of the screen, Win+<Up/down arrow> to maximize/unmaximize, and Win+Shift+<Left/right arrow> to send to other screens, right? That's already a lot of the functionality promised by a lot of OS X tilers (Though Slate clearly has quite a bit more, too). Divvy is also available for Windows (http://mizage.com/windivvy/ http://mizage.com/windivvy/), and if you look around there are quite a few other options for "Windows tiling window manager," some of which are a little more "genuine" in that they force the tiling. You can also get alternative shells that provide tiling.
- urlwolf 14y ago
  Try bug.n. I'm on linux, with awesome wm, partly because bug.n doesn't have a 3 column mode and as such it's pretty useless on a 2560x1440 monitor.
- tnorthcutt 14y ago
  You might want to check out GridMove
jvm 14y ago
What's the feature comparison like with OptimalLayout? I've been loving OptimalLayout for over a year. Of course, costing money is sort of a big difference.
- zwass 14y ago
  I paid for Optimal Layout and have loved it for a while. It seems likely I'll be switching to this (and perhaps adding all the Optimal Layout commands to my config file). This is much more flexible (steeper learning curve), and a huge draw is being able to define preset window configurations for multiple applications at once.
morphir 14y ago
what do I press to get this behavoir? bind ;:cmd;ctrl throw previous
- adrianr 14y ago
  cmd ctrl and ;
callil 14y ago
another one like this is: http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ bit more pricey though.
- moepstar 14y ago
  For one, HyperDock has an other purpose than Slate et al. And, what absolutely bugs me about HyperDock: It never ever has worked for me in a predictable way across 10.6., 10.7. and now 10.8. I've had/have to, for the window preview to work, always open the program in question which kind of voids the whole purpose of the app...
lsh 14y ago
Screenshots anyone? I can't find any.
- emgsilva 14y ago
  There is not too much to be shown (as screenshots), as it is basically a tool to help you move windows, resize windows, push windows between different screens, etc... The best (for me) is to check the comprehensive documentation provided on GitHub (https://github.com/jigish/slate/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/jigish/slate/blob/master/README.md), and, even more, to play with the configuration file (~/.slate) to see how it works. You can find also on GitHub a default configuration file, which gives a nice overview of several features. Cheers.

170 points by jrajav 14y ago

Nice to see such thorough documentation like in this project!

zdw 14y ago

This is, bar none, the best automated window manager I've used in OS X. I cribbed these from one of the examples, but my favorite "beyond just resizing" commands are: bind ;:cmd;ctrl throw previous Which sends the active window to my second display, and bind /:cmd;ctrl hint ASDFGHJKL Which overlays all windows on screen with qwerty home row letters, so I can foreground any of them with one more keystroke.

hinathan 14y ago

I paid for Divvy.app but may switch to this - love the configurability.

askedrelic 14y ago
Divvy has seems pretty dead to me, I haven't seen any new features in months? maybe years? It works well, but after seeing the new crop of window managers, it's too simple. The configuration isn't the most flexible and not easy to sync configurations between computers.
- jhenkens 14y ago
  Divvy is amazing for a dumb window manager. I look forward to trying out slate.

mtklein 14y ago

Amazing. I've always wanted exactly this, and now I have it: bind right:alt push right bar-resize:screenSizeX/2 bind left:alt push left bar-resize:screenSizeX/2 bind up:alt push left bar-resize:screenSizeX*2/3 bind down:alt push right bar-resize:screenSizeX/3

tom_usher 14y ago

This is by far my favourite window manager for OSX - one of my favourite uses for it is 'layouts'. I define a layout for different 'modes' of a typical workday and switch between them with keyboard shortcuts: - WebDev, push Chrome to the left, iTerm to the right - Dev - fullscreen iTerm, and inversely, Web - fullscreen Chrome. - Support - Mail on one side, browser on another One thing I wish it had was Spaces support; so I could set up a layout across multiple spaces. Another great feature is 'default' - I switch between a standing desk setup and my laptop (seated) a couple of times during the day by enabling/disabling my second monitor. Slate is set up to rearrange my windows how I like them for both setups automatically when a change of monitors is detected.

8ig8 14y ago
I haven't used Slate, but I agree that spaces support might be a useful feature. I've been experimenting with spaces for when I'm not attached to an external display.

metaguri 14y ago

If you prefer something a little more simple, Spectacle is a free program similar to ShiftIt and SizeUp. Basically it's shortcuts to put windows in any half or quarter of your screen, centered, maximized, or send to other monitors. On the app store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectacle/id487069743?mt=12 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectacle/id487069743?mt=12 (I have no affiliation with this program. But I like it.)

jrajav 14y ago
A Spectacle fork on the HN front page* was the reason I submitted Slate (which I also have no affiliation with). Now the circle is complete! The more attention paid to these excellent apps, the better. We sorely need a solid, mature, and open tiler on OS X. Slate is the best option I've used so far, and by far the most thought-out, featureful, and configurable, but it's not perfect. I've run into memory leaks a few times and some of the features are still a little quirky. *: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4589446 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4589446
kiennt 14y ago
I just used Spectacle, it work well. Spectable is helpful and easy to use. But after that, i try Slate. At the beginning, it quite complex to config. But after 5 minutes, i really love Slate. Slate is more flexible then Spectable.
- emgsilva 14y ago
  The same here... Spectacle is very simple to setup... But Slate is so much more flexible. After some minutes I covered all my uses of Spectacle and introduced some new ones (moving windows around is just amazing...). Great job from Slate developers, keep up with the good work!
100k 14y ago
Another app worth checking out is Divvy. It can easily resize windows to a selected number of rectangles on your screen. I use it to keep my text editor at exactly 1/2 my screen and arrange my Terminal windows.

cabbeer 14y ago

Any windows alternative?

jrajav 14y ago
You probably already know that you can do Win+<Left/right arrow> to maximize to half of the screen, Win+<Up/down arrow> to maximize/unmaximize, and Win+Shift+<Left/right arrow> to send to other screens, right? That's already a lot of the functionality promised by a lot of OS X tilers (Though Slate clearly has quite a bit more, too). Divvy is also available for Windows (http://mizage.com/windivvy/ http://mizage.com/windivvy/), and if you look around there are quite a few other options for "Windows tiling window manager," some of which are a little more "genuine" in that they force the tiling. You can also get alternative shells that provide tiling.
urlwolf 14y ago
Try bug.n. I'm on linux, with awesome wm, partly because bug.n doesn't have a 3 column mode and as such it's pretty useless on a 2560x1440 monitor.
tnorthcutt 14y ago
You might want to check out GridMove

jvm 14y ago

What's the feature comparison like with OptimalLayout? I've been loving OptimalLayout for over a year. Of course, costing money is sort of a big difference.

zwass 14y ago
I paid for Optimal Layout and have loved it for a while. It seems likely I'll be switching to this (and perhaps adding all the Optimal Layout commands to my config file). This is much more flexible (steeper learning curve), and a huge draw is being able to define preset window configurations for multiple applications at once.

morphir 14y ago

what do I press to get this behavoir? bind ;:cmd;ctrl throw previous

adrianr 14y ago
cmd ctrl and ;

callil 14y ago

another one like this is: http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ bit more pricey though.

moepstar 14y ago
For one, HyperDock has an other purpose than Slate et al. And, what absolutely bugs me about HyperDock: It never ever has worked for me in a predictable way across 10.6., 10.7. and now 10.8. I've had/have to, for the window preview to work, always open the program in question which kind of voids the whole purpose of the app...

lsh 14y ago

Screenshots anyone? I can't find any.

emgsilva 14y ago
There is not too much to be shown (as screenshots), as it is basically a tool to help you move windows, resize windows, push windows between different screens, etc... The best (for me) is to check the comprehensive documentation provided on GitHub (https://github.com/jigish/slate/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/jigish/slate/blob/master/README.md), and, even more, to play with the configuration file (~/.slate) to see how it works. You can find also on GitHub a default configuration file, which gives a nice overview of several features. Cheers.