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I am a front-end developer doing primarily HTML/CSS and JavaScript. My past Unix experience was on FreeBSD. I used it for a year or so, and was quite satisfied about its stability and the lack of any kind of crash or bug even at the WM level. (I was using KDE)

Recently I decided to try Ubuntu in order to experiment with stuff like Web Server installation and customization, setting up Versioning Systems (git), and try to find more cutting edge IDEs and editors. In the end of the day, the goal would be to move the majority of my working time in Linux.

I am rather disappointed about the quality of the Window Managers. First I tried KDE (Kubuntu) but I find that the look and feel is not consistent. I also had recurring error messages (maybe caused by running applications that were in beta stage?).

Then, I went on to try Unity. Even though the Look and Feel is much more coherent, and putting aside the annoying "innovations" of the designers (like the infamous left-side taskbar that only shows icons and not details about the open windows, the window tools that are located to the left instead of the right etc), I also see several bugs.

For example, as I am using a 2 monitor setup, I have a hard time moving app windows from one to the other, and sticking them there. I often struggle to maximize a window because it snaps back to my "primary" monitor instead of staying where I put it. My keyboard shortcut customizations are lost between sessions. Besides the Dash (which works very well) the rest of the Usability is mediocre. The window colors and "tabs" make finding things hard. Take for example the "Keyboard" utility. There is a "shortcuts" tab but it's not seen in at first sight. Space is consumed for secondary non-important information and stuff that users actually do search for are more "hidden". I also find Unity not much faster than Windows 7 -in the same machine-. (don't shoot me)

To sum-up. Here is my primary question: If I had to choose between stability, ease of use, simplicity on one hand and fanciness and 3rd stuff on the other, I'd definitely pick the first.

Which WM would you suggest me trying? (I include Desktop Environments)

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closed as not constructive by Chris Down, Mat, Renan, jw013, jasonwryan Nov 19 '12 at 16:31

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1 Answer

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From the web site: Awesome is a highly configurable, next generation framework window manager for X. It is very fast, extensible and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 license.It is primarly targeted at power users, developers and any people dealing with every day computing tasks and who want to have fine-grained control on theirs graphical environment.

It seems to match all your requirements.

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thank you, it looks nice, it reminds me of FLUXBOX, a bit too much on the light-side I'm afraid:( I just realized Window Manager and Desktop Environments are too different things so maybe my question was a bit misleading... – George Katsanos Nov 19 '12 at 14:26

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