IceWM is a
stacking window manager for the
X Window System
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wit ...
, originally written by
Marko Maček. It was written from scratch in
C++
C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...
and is released under the terms of the
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a free-software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate a software component released under the LGPL into their own ...
.
[
] It is customizable, relatively lightweight in terms of memory and CPU usage, and comes with themes that allow it to imitate the GUI of
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturi ...
,
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
,
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
,
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 ...
,
Motif, and other
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
s.
IceWM can be configured from plain text files
stored in a user's
home directory, making it easy to customize and copy settings. IceWM has an optional, built-in
taskbar
A taskbar is an element of a graphical user interface which has various purposes. It typically shows which programs are currently running.
The specific design and layout of the taskbar varies between individual operating systems, but generally as ...
with a dynamic
start menu
The Start menu is a graphical user interface element used in Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 and in other operating systems. It provides a central launching point for computer programs and performing other tasks in the Windows shell. It is name ...
, tasks display, system tray, network and CPU meters, mail check and configurable clock. It features a task list window and an
Alt+Tab
Alt or ALT may refer to:
Abbreviations for words
* Alt account, an alternative online identity also known as a sock puppet account
* Alternate character, in online gaming
* Alternate route, type of highway designation
* Alternating group, mathema ...
task switcher. Official support for
GNOME
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...
and
KDE
KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...
menus used to be available as a separate package. In recent IceWM versions, support for them is built-in as well. External graphical programs for editing the configuration
and the menu are also available.
Usage
IceWM is installed as the main Window Manager for
Absolute Linux,
Antix
antiX () is a Linux distribution based on Debian Stable.
It is comparatively lightweight and suitable for older computers, while also providing cutting edge kernel and applications, as well as updates and additions via the apt-get package sys ...
and the light version of
VectorLinux.
The Easy mode default desktop of the
Asus Eee PC
The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive (S ...
uses IceWM.
openSUSE
openSUSE () is a free and open source RPM-based Linux distribution developed by the openSUSE project.
The initial release of the community project was a beta version of SUSE Linux 10.0.
Additionally the project creates a variety of tools, s ...
for
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...
uses IceWM by default as a lightweight GUI. The Raspberry Pi 3 only version of
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server also uses IceWM.
Screenshots
File:IceWM in action.png, alt=IceWM on Debian Buster, featuring Xcalendar and LXappearance, IceWM in action
File:Icewm-default.jpg, IceWM, featuring the IceDesert theme
File:Icewmstartmenu.png, IceWM's Start Menu is intended to resemble that of Windows 95.
File:IceWM 1.3.ogv, IceWM 1.3 Xsession running on Debian
Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
7 Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
See also
*
JWM
JWM (Joe's Window Manager) is a lightweight stacking window manager for the X Window System written by Joe Wingbermuehle. JWM is written in C and uses only Xlib at a minimum. Configuration is done by editing an XML file; no graphical configu ...
*
FVWM95
FVWM95 is a window manager for the X Window System based on the popular FVWM 2 window manager. It is similar to the original FVWM, but is designed to closely resemble the look of Windows 95.
FVWM95 was for a while a rather popular window manager ...
*
Comparison of X window managers
This article compares variety of different X window managers. For an introduction to the topic, see X Window System.
General information
Features
See also
* Comparison of X Window System desktop environments
* Window manager
* ...
*Spri, a former
lightweight Linux distribution
A light-weight Linux distribution is one that uses lower memory and/or has less processor-speed requirements than a more "feature-rich" Linux distribution. The lower demands on hardware ideally result in a more responsive machine, and/or all ...
which used IceWM as its default user interface
Notes
References
External links
*
*
IceWM ThemesIceWM Control PanelIceWM Themes
1997 software
Articles containing video clips
Free software programmed in C++
Free X window managers
Window managers that use GTK
{{Free-software-stub