Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Labwc VS Unity8

Compare Labwc VS Unity8 and see what are their differences

Labwc logo Labwc

Labwc stands for Lab Wayland Compositor, where lab can mean any of the following:

Unity8 logo Unity8

Mir compositor with Wayland apps support.
  • Labwc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-03-03
  • Unity8 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18

Labwc features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Labwc is designed to be a lightweight and minimalistic window manager, which can result in faster performance and lower resource usage compared to more feature-rich desktop environments.
  • Wayland Support
    Labwc is built to work with the Wayland display server protocol, offering a modern alternative to the X11 protocol. This can lead to better performance and security.
  • Customization
    The window manager allows for a high degree of customization, letting users tailor their environment to fit their workflow and preferences using configuration files.
  • Active Development
    Labwc is actively maintained, meaning that users can expect regular updates and improvements as well as support for newer technologies and bug fixes.
  • Compliance with standards
    Labwc adheres to the wlroots standard, ensuring compatibility and potentially easier integration with other Wayland-based systems and software.

Possible disadvantages of Labwc

  • Limited Features
    As a minimalist window manager, Labwc does not include many of the advanced features and tools found in full desktop environments. Users requiring these features might find it lacking.
  • Learning Curve
    Users unfamiliar with minimalist window managers or Wayland might face an initial learning curve, as working with configuration files and manual settings can be complex.
  • Wayland Limitations
    While Wayland offers advantages, some users may encounter issues due to the lack of support for certain legacy applications, which might still depend on X11.
  • Community and Support
    As a niche project, Labwc might not have as large a community or as many third-party resources (like themes or plugins) compared to more established environments.
  • Hardware Compatibility
    Users with older hardware may face compatibility issues, as Labwcโ€™s reliance on Wayland may not be as accommodating of older graphics infrastructure as X11.

Unity8 features and specs

  • Convergence
    Unity8 is designed with convergence in mind, allowing a seamless experience across multiple device types like desktops, tablets, and phones.
  • Modern Interface
    The interface is modern and visually appealing, providing a fresh alternative to other desktop environments.
  • Community-Driven
    As part of the UBports project, Unity8 benefits from a community-driven development approach, making it responsive to user feedback.
  • Customization
    Users can customize the interface according to personal preferences, improving user experience and productivity.
  • Lightweight
    Unity8 is relatively lightweight compared to other desktop environments, which can help improve system performance on older hardware.

Possible disadvantages of Unity8

  • Limited Software Support
    Due to its niche status, Unity8 may not have as extensive software support as more mainstream environments like GNOME or KDE.
  • Development Pace
    As a community-driven project, the pace of development can be slower compared to commercially-backed alternatives.
  • Stability Issues
    Being under constant development, users may experience occasional stability issues or bugs.
  • Learning Curve
    Users who are accustomed to more traditional desktop environments might face a learning curve when transitioning to Unity8.
  • Limited Market Adoption
    Unity8 has limited adoption in the broader market, which can affect the availability of third-party applications and extensions.

Labwc videos

labwc release video 0.6.0

More videos:

  • Review - Even More Wayland Compositors! LabWC & DWL

Unity8 videos

Unity8 Desktop Greeter Preview (Split Greeter)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Labwc and Unity8)
Linux
65 65%
35% 35
Window Manager
72 72%
28% 28
Operating Systems
36 36%
64% 64
Utilities
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Labwc and Unity8. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Unity8 should be more popular than Labwc. It has been mentiond 2 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.

Labwc mentions (1)

  • KDE is now my favorite desktop
    I recommend that you try labwc. It's lean and supports Openbox themes. I switched from X11 and LXDE to Sway and had a good experience. But Sway was my slippery slope to labwc. https://github.com/labwc/labwc. - Source: Hacker News / 16 days ago

Unity8 mentions (2)

  • What happened to lomiri
    Https://lomiri.com links to https://github.com/ubports/unity8 and this repository is accessible. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Any GNOME-like DEs without all the GNOME bs?
    Unity. Yes, it's still around (now going by "unity8" and maintained and developed by UBports now instead of Canonical but it's still the same DE we all know and hate er love). Obv not my cup of tea so I'm not very knowledgeable about it so could be way off but who knows, maybe we'll get a Unity lover here and they can chime in. github. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Labwc and Unity8, you can also consider the following products

Hyprland - Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on its looks. - GitHub - vaxerski/Hyprland: Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on ...

Wayfire - Wayland compositor with 3d effects.

GNOME - An easy and elegant way to use your computer, GNOME is designed to put you in control and get things done.

Sway - Sway is a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager, but for Wayland instead of X11.

Arcan - Game engine and multimedia framework and display server.

River - River is a lightweight SaaS-based product. It is built for businesses and designed for teams.