'Q: Window manager. Why not use "xyz" windows manager?'

'A:' I get asked this question a lot. Many people have suggested Xfce, which I agree is good. Historically, there was originally Fvwm, and Fvwm95 (used in Puppy) is a slightly modified version of Fvwm v2.0, and also Xfce has its origin in Fvwm.

Many people love the look-and-feel of Puppy, that is, the retro Windows 95 look. Others have told me that it is not so good. However, this is one of the reasons that I chose Fvwm95 -- I want the Win95 look as it is very comfortable for the great mass of Windows users out there. Also, in Puppy it is refined somewhat and is very pleasant and efficient to use.

However, Puppy version 0.9.9 is setup to handle just about any window manager, and comes with both Fvwm95 and JoesWindowManager. The guys on the Puppy Forum have successfully used Fluxbox and IceWM -- see there for installation details. Note that these w.m.'s will probably be offered as packages for Puppy Unleashed.

The fvwm95 config file is /root/.fvwm95rc. If you scroll down to the menus you should be able to get a feel for the format. The jwm file is /root/.jwmrc. If you are using Guest Too's icewm WM there is a special menu file /root/.icewm/menu. You need to have rox show hidden files. All three can be edited with any text editor.

Configuring IceWM themes

• go to root/
• turn on hidden windows from ROX
• go to the .icewm hidden folder
• then into the theme
• and edit as text the default theme text/config file

eg. root/.icewm/themes/Venusian/default theme

More about Window managers

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