21 of the Best Free Linux Window Managers

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"It is important not to confuse a window manager with a desktop environment. A desktop environment typically consists of icons, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers, and desktop widgets. They provide a collection of libraries and applications made to operate cohesively together. A desktop environment contains its own window manager.

"There are three main types of window manager: Compositing, stacking and tiling. This article focuses on selecting the best managers that fit these three classes. Compositing window managers allow windows to be created and drawn separately and then put together and displayed in various 2D and 3D environments, whereas stacking window managers allow windows to overlap by drawing background windows first. The last type, tiling window managers, ensure that no window ever covers another."

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