The Joy of X – Master the Linux GUI

“X doesn’t impose any style on these windows;
they’re all pretty plain by default. On top of X sits a piece
of software called a window manager. You can have many different
window managers, but only one can run at a time. The window manager
effectively provides window dressing, which makes windows have a
consistent style and behaviour. The window manager provides close,
minimise and maximise buttons. It gives windows a metallic border,
or a purple border, or a transparent background or anything else
that can be imagined.”

Complete
Story