What does a window manager do? If I have two overlapping windows and I click on the window behind, the window behind will appear on the front. What is the window manager doing in this scenario?

Question

As a Microsoft Windows user who has no idea about Linux at all, what is a window manager? If I have two overlapping windows and I click on the window behind, the window behind will appear on the front. What is the window manager doing in this scenario?

In: 2

Answer 1

Window managers under X11 define all the mechanics regarding windows. Eg, what decorations are painted, whether you have and where the “close window” and similar buttons are placed, how windows are laid out, how they’re sized and moved, etc. So for instance a window manager is what decides whether windows snap to each other or not, and whether you have a button for “keep this window on top”

There are [tiling window managers](https://www.tecmint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/herbstluftwm-manual-tiling-window-manager-for-linux.png) that divide the desktop into a grid and enforce no overlap, and window managers that look like a normal Windows-style desktop.