Everbody can appreciate well-designed and pretty websites; houses and buildings too!
The gorgeous Linderhof schloss
But can we appreciate well designed desktops on everyday computers, like the one in the header image?
Can we appreciate perfectly margined window tiles fitting snuggly against one another, with a personalized task and search bar, with every behavior mapped to a keybind? For the sake of beauty and improving my workflow, I tested this question out on a linux machine at home.
Wms, or window managers, are applications that run instead of whatever default window manager comes with your linux, mac, or windows machine. Window managers typically control your windows, as the name would suggest, but they can do much more too. Instead of windows overlapping one another in a big mess, window managers keep all windows laid out before you, and desktops (or workspaces) can be configured to hold different applications in their windows upon startup.
Below is the header image pasted again. Notice the dice pieces at the left of the bar on the top of the view. Those are customized desktop numbers disguised as dice! Notice how every window is slightly transparent, each is separated, and one is outlined in white at the bottom right. In the middle is a customized search box. Everything is a part of a complete aesthetic, and it is all impeccably organized.
I do not use arch btw.
An example of a customized linux setup using bspwm and polybar.
Every maneuver from one window to another, or one workspace/desktop to another can be done exclusively with keybinds, improving workflow dramatically. I installed bspwm and polybar, and I can't say I am at all dissapointed. Never again will your windows be lost behind a sea of tabs and open applications.
Organization and beauty are inevitable outcomes :).
My trusty friend of 5 years
The reason I bring up window managers, is mainly because of a recent update: I am saying goodbye to my trusty 2019 Macbook Pro, which has served me well the past 5 years. Unfortunately it can no longer run as it used to, its battery life has decreased significantly, and the load I put on it has increased. Originally I had intended to purchase a Lenovo or some other gaming laptop and strip it to download ubuntu, but this plan was thwarted when I learned that my university uses the proprietary software SolidWorks for their mechanical engineering program. Of course, as is too often the case, SolidWorks does not have support for linux.
I could potentially dual boot Linux and windows and switch when I needed to use SolidWorks, but this would end up with me mainly using windows anyway and that defeats the whole purpose.
So my options would be mac or windows, which to me is a pretty easy choice, though I will miss out on a lot of gaming opportunities. Even using a mac, I do plan to install a wm and customize my mac to perfection. I still see a Future where I no longer use any proprietary spyware, but it is not yet here, and I am satisfied at the moment. Maybe soon I will have another machine with which I can run linux.
Regardless, window managers will be installed on all of them.
