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herbstluftwm VS IceWM

Compare herbstluftwm VS IceWM and see what are their differences

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Contents:
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  3. » Reviews
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herbstluftwm logo herbstluftwm

herbstluftwm is a manual tiling window manager for X11 using Xlib and Glib.

IceWM logo IceWM

icewm home page . Bug Tracking. If you have a patch, a bug report or a feature request to submit, please do so at the icewm project page at SourceForge.
  • herbstluftwm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-11
  • IceWM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-07

herbstluftwm features and specs

  • Tiling Window Management
    Herbstluftwm is a dynamic tiling window manager, allowing users to efficiently organize open windows without overlapping, thereby optimizing screen real estate.
  • Scriptability
    The window manager is highly scriptable, providing users the ability to extend and customize its functionality using shell scripts.
  • Lightweight
    Herbstluftwm is lightweight and consumes minimal system resources, making it an excellent choice for older hardware or systems with limited resources.
  • Simple Configuration
    Configuration is straightforward and done through a simple text file, allowing users to easily adjust settings to meet their preferences.
  • EWMH and ICCCM Compliance
    It adheres to EWMH and ICCCM standards, ensuring better compatibility with various desktop environments and applications.
  • Community Support
    Herbstluftwm has an active community that provides support, documentation, and shared configurations, aiding new users and fostering improvements.

Possible disadvantages of herbstluftwm

  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Users coming from traditional desktop environments might find the tiling system and keyboard-driven interface challenging to learn initially.
  • Limited Graphical Configuration Tools
    Unlike some other window managers, herbstluftwm lacks extensive graphical tools for configuration, requiring users to edit configuration files manually.
  • Dependencies
    While lightweight, certain features or functionalities might require additional dependencies such as scripting or external programs.
  • Not as Feature-Rich as Some Alternatives
    Herbstluftwm focuses on simplicity and efficiency, which might not offer as many features or eye-candy as some other window managers.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    Despite EWMH and ICCCM compliance, some applications, especially older or proprietary ones, might not behave as expected.

IceWM features and specs

  • Lightweight
    IceWM is designed to be fast and frugal with system resources, making it ideal for older hardware or systems with limited RAM and processing power.
  • Customizable
    Users can easily customize the look and feel of IceWM using themes and configurations without needing advanced technical knowledge.
  • Simple and Intuitive
    The window manager offers a straightforward, no-frills interface that is easy to navigate, making it accessible for new users.
  • Stable and Reliable
    IceWM is known for its robustness and stability, reducing the likelihood of crashes and bugs compared to more complex window managers.
  • Efficient with X Resources
    IceWM is very efficient in how it utilizes X resources, contributing to its overall speed and responsiveness.
  • Integrated Taskbar
    The built-in taskbar includes features like a system tray, app launcher, and workspace switcher, providing essential functionality without additional software.

Possible disadvantages of IceWM

  • Limited Advanced Features
    IceWM might lack some of the advanced features and eye-candy that are available in more modern or feature-rich window managers and desktop environments.
  • Basic Default Appearance
    Out of the box, IceWM may appear somewhat basic or outdated, requiring user customization to enhance its aesthetics.
  • Manual Editing for Customization
    While IceWM is customizable, it often requires manual editing of text files for configuration, which might be cumbersome for some users.
  • Limited Community and Support
    Compared to more popular desktop environments like GNOME or KDE, IceWM has a smaller user community, which may lead to fewer resources and less community support.
  • Minimalist Approach
    The minimalist approach, while beneficial for resource usage, might not cater to users looking for a fully integrated and richly featured desktop environment.

herbstluftwm videos

+ Add

Window Manager Hopping: Herbstluftwm

More videos:

  • Review - Herbstluftwm overview
  • Review - Obscure Window Manager Project - Herbstluftwm

IceWM videos

+ Add

Obscure Window Manager Project - IceWM

More videos:

  • Tutorial - IceWM Tutorial - The fastest Linux window manager
  • Demo - antiX 19 beta 3 IceWM Demo Features Review II

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to herbstluftwm and IceWM)

herbstluftwm

IceWM

Window Manager
35 35%
Window Manager
65% 65
Linux
25 25%
Linux
75% 75
Utilities
30 30%
Utilities
70% 70
Qt
100 100%
Qt
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare herbstluftwm and IceWM

herbstluftwm Reviews

Top 13 Best Tiling Window Managers For Linux In 2022
Tags (workspaces or virtual desktops), a startup setup script, exactly one tag per monitor, and other features are among herbstluftwm’s highlights. Learn more about herbstluftwm in our article.
Source: www.hubtech.org
13 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux
herbstluftwm’s main features include tags (i.e. workspaces or virtual desktops), a configuration script which runs at startup, exactly one tag per monitor, etc. Learn more from our article on herbstluftwm here.
Source: www.tecmint.com

IceWM Reviews

We have no reviews of IceWM yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, herbstluftwm seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

herbstluftwm mentions (9)

  • The Future Is Niri
    It's X11 but whenever (tiling) window managers are mentioned, I feel a strong urge to mention Herbstluftwm [0]. It's more manual than the automatic splitting most tiling WMs do but I really enjoy how easy it is to split/tab using the keyboard in Herbstluftwm. [0] https://herbstluftwm.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
    It's exactly how it works but only if you have mutliple screens. My comment was that, for this reason, 2 or 3 smaller (ish- ~27") 16:9 4k screens [1] (previously, 4–6 even smaller 4:3 screens) works much better for me because I can switch the spaces on my Macbook and i3/Sway virtual desktops on my Linux machine individually for each screen. If we're talking about having a smaller number of giant screens it would... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • What softwares do you recommend to a daily use BSD system?
    The nicities that I pull would be the file browser from ROX, and a tiling window manager such as herbstluftwm. I could do everything I do today without these, such as with a terminal or OpenBSD's 'cwm', but I really enjoy using them! Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Berry is a healthy, byte-sized window manager written in C for Unix systems
    While people are discussing window managers, one of the most overlooked window manager is: hersbtluftwm.[0] If you even work with multiple monitors, give it a try. It uses the monitor swapping feature from xmonad but comes with simplicity of editing the config (one doesn't need to learn new programming language to edit config). It's a pretty cool window manager! [0]: https://herbstluftwm.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Looking for a FancyZones-like tiling manager for Linux
    Herbstluftwm (https://herbstluftwm.org/) has two ways to achieve what you want. And it plays nice with XFCE (and probably KDE) so you don't have to give up a traditional DE to use it. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

IceWM mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of IceWM yet. Tracking of IceWM recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing herbstluftwm and IceWM, you can also consider the following products

qtile - Qtile is a full-featured, hackable tiling window manager written in Python.

Fluxbox - Fluxbox is a window manager for X that was based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code.

bspwm - A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

i3 - A dynamic tiling window manager designed for X11, inspired by wmii, and written in C.

pekwm - pekwm is a window manager that once up on a time was based on the aewm++ window manager, but it has...

Openbox - Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.

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