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Puppy Linux Discussion Forum
oldforum.puppylinux.com › board index › house training › users ( for the regulars )
Which is faster JWM OR IceWM? - (old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum
Barry Kauler’s excellent Puppy Linux is based on JWM. You install it as sudo apt-get install jwm on Debian/Ubuntu, or as yum install jwm on Fedora. I takes about 3MB of memory to run. IceWM 4.5MB of memory later we have a window manager with taskbar, menus, network and CPU meters, mail check ...
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FreeBSD
forums.freebsd.org › desktop usage › window managers › other window managers
Other - iceWM really is pleasant | The FreeBSD Forums
July 1, 2017 - jwm is great for simplicity and those more inclined to manually edit text (XML) configuration file(s). A single .jwmrc in you home folder can set all of the windows layout ... so its all contained in a single location.
Discussions

Is JWM really more lightweight than IceWM? – antiX-forum
Back then, and it was still a 32-bit ... between 60-65 MB; still quite light, but more than IceWM. Believe it or not, once upon a time IceWM used fewer resources than Fluxbox or JWM, Last I checked that is no longer the case.... More on antixforum.com
🌐 antixforum.com
August 18, 2025
Window managers – Page 2 – antiX-forum
I’m partial to icewm. I like jwm, too, but, icewm has some extra bells and whistles that I enjoy. If I were going to stray from the “built-in” options in antiX, I would go with i3wm as I quite enjoy it. More on antixforum.com
🌐 antixforum.com
JWM or Openbox ?
jwm is very slow in my experience, so i suggest IceWM instead. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/linuxquestions
7
3
October 13, 2020
Explain to me why lightweight Stacking Window Manager still exist?
Some people like to use software that you do not like. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/linux
50
0
July 22, 2022
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Arch Linux Forums
bbs.archlinux.org › viewtopic.php
jwm or icewm? / Applications & Desktop Environments / Arch Linux Forums
August 28, 2011 - I was thinking that I'd like to make my dell vostro run on a lighter interface. The two that have taken my interest were iceWM and JWM.
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antiX-forum
antixforum.com › forums › topic › is-jwm-really-more-lightweight-than-icewm
Is JWM really more lightweight than IceWM? – antiX-forum
August 18, 2025 - If you like editing config files, the syntax that JWM uses in it’s config files, for me, is a nightmare. I usually recommend using IceWM, even if you don’t change any of it’s settings because it seems more feature rich than JWM or Fluxbox. It includes, for example, indicators for resource usage in the system tray and has some handy features, like build in pseudo-window-tiling.
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Linux Questions
linuxquestions.org › questions › linux-software-2 › opinions-on-lightweight-desktops-icewm-jwm-lxde-etc-776547
Opinions on lightweight desktops: icewm, jwm, lxde, etc.
I am now using LXDE, I used to use IceWM. The problem I am having with lxde is: I can not seem to configure it. The documentation is inadequate, as is
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SaaSHub
saashub.com › home › utilities › linux
IceWM VS JWM - compare differences & reviews? - SaaSHub
Limited Community and Support Compared to more popular desktop environments like GNOME or KDE, IceWM has a smaller user community, which may lead to fewer resources and less community support. Minimalist Approach The minimalist approach, while beneficial for resource usage, might not cater ...
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antiX-forum
antixforum.com › forums › topic › window-managers › page › 2
Window managers – Page 2 – antiX-forum
Way back when, I also investigated memory footprint; there wasn’t much difference, but IceWM was a leader and still is a lightweight favorite. -- Brian Masinick Alternate "Search B": This search page ... When I was new to Linux I tried a system with Fluxbox first, but coming from windows it was difficult to adjust to. JWM was good, and Openbox that came with Crunchbang and KNOPPIX were good, too, but IceWM was a natural for me.
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YouTube
youtube.com › fortunet info solutions
Detailed review of AntiX-21 JWM and ICEWM window managers. - YouTube
We feature content based on technology that touches our lives.This is a detailed review of AntiX-21 JWM and ICEWM window managers.JWM Windows Manager - 0:00:...
Published   June 29, 2022
Views   630
Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/linux › explain to me why lightweight stacking window manager still exist?
r/linux on Reddit: Explain to me why lightweight Stacking Window Manager still exist?
July 22, 2022 -

There're 2 mainline WM called Stacking and Tilling. Dynamic should be somewhere 40% stacking +60% tiling. I don't wanna confuse what type is better, it totally depended on your workflow and your distro.

But, there's a kind of Stacking Window Manager I could not understand why it still exists and still be maintained today. I call them lightweight WM when they focus on speedup pc usage. Some of names are IceWM, Openbox, Fluxbox, JWM, FVWM... To me, they look super ugly, sometimes stupid buggy. They are not friendly to new users when missing many functions and not many documents, or could someone tell me that you started Linux with something not fully DE like Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon...? Even if you're the type of DarkSoul player, you can start with i3, awesome, xmonad, sway. Almost tiling WM has many guides. Look back lite version of stacking WM, you see they work like normal stacking but you still need to edit config in text file. And they don't optimize hardware performance too good to say that they're really lite when compare to tiling WM. So they don't have any selling point IRL>

What should be right? In my thought, these lightweight WMs only are built in two ways either C or C++. Why? why would they don't work with each other to make somewhat ( and call it LiteDE or whatever)? Do they have personal matter with each other? Their WM don't have any special function to make separate versions ( like PopOS they made Pop shell, definitely different to gnome's mutter). Only two lite stacking WMs should exist in my opinion. They're Openbox and Labwc. And why? Because Openbox is using as main WM in a bigger full DE (LXqt), and labwc will do openbox's job in wayland. That's all and enough. I wanna shout out directly to Enlightenment. They should not exist, too. Idk what if anyone can use E25 today in a official distro as daily usage, not for testing purposes. Till Budgie 11 is something beta, E made me a super big question mask about their exist in ideal Utopia, not for practical human.

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Desde Linux
blog.desdelinux.net › from linux › applications › i3wm, icewm, ion, jwm and matchbox: 5 alternative wms for linux
I3WM, IceWM, Ion, JWM and MatchBox: 5 Alternative WMs for Linux
September 3, 2020 - This updated WM is usually found in many repositories of different GNU / Linux Distros, under the name of package "icewm"Therefore, depending on the package manager used, graphical or terminal, it can be easily installed.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Comparison_of_X_window_managers
Comparison of X window managers - Wikipedia
May 27, 2026 - "Release icewm-4.0.0". 1 January 2026. Retrieved 1 January 2026. ↑ · joewing. "Release v2.4.6 · joewing/jwm". Retrieved 22 February 2026. ↑ · "Tagging 6.4.3". 15 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025. ↑ · "matchbox-window-manager - Matchbox Window Manager v1".
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Dev1 Galaxy
dev1galaxy.org › viewtopic.php
[SOLVED] requesting recomendations for a small window manager / Desktop and Multimedia / Dev1 Galaxy Forum
January 19, 2024 - It seems the tread has spiraled away from the question. I have tried all of these in the past, but it's been awhile. From my experience I have to agree with @Camtaf . Not only are the listed WMs very basic, they fail to be take the crown for being lightweight. In opinion you can't beat JWM.
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antiX Linux
antixlinux.com › forum-archive › what-windows-manager-are-you-using-in-antix-t171-s30.html
What windows manager are you using in antiX? - Page 3 - antiX oldforums archive
May 24, 2009 - JWM is truly ugly without any skins put on it, but the Puppy project and the SliTAZ projects have demonstrated that you can put a nice cover over JVM and give it a nice appearance; you really can with ANY window manager, so don't let looks deter you from any of them. For me, I'd say the way in which the task bar can be managed is what I personally look for, and understandably, that is why I prefer IceWM as a lightweight window manager, XFCE as a lightweight desktop, and KDE as a heavy weight desktop; all three of them provide easy task bar management, and that is what I prefer to use in my personal navigation.
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It's FOSS
itsfoss.com › news › xfce-icewm-transiton-antix
Switching From Xfce to IceWM With AntiX, My Old Computer is Back in Action Again
March 17, 2025 - Although antiX comes with three different window managers, i.e., IceWM, JWM, and Fluxbox, we will mainly talk focus on its default window manager, IceWM.
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Narkive
baslinux.ibiblio.narkive.com › SYXzZkup › bl-jwm-vs-icewm
[BL] jwm vs. icewm
(it uses some of the Qemu code) http://virtualbox.org/ -monz In IceWM on my computer (Ubuntu), when I installed it, a bit of the menu had "Window Managers". It allowed me to switch to the other three thousand window managers I had on my system. It looks like restart jwm - jwm Put that anywhere in your ~/.icewm/menu file Which gets to JWM (without closing your open apps) Unfortunately, I have yet to figure out how to get back to IceWM (or other WM's) from JWM.
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Archlabs Linux
forum.archlabslinux.com › home
Home - wordpress-1094741-4339979.cloudwaysapps.com
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l3net
l3net.wordpress.com › 2013 › 03 › 17 › a-memory-comparison-of-light-linux-desktops
A Memory Comparison of Light Linux Desktops | l3net – a layer 3 networking blog
January 20, 2015 - JWM is a light-weight window manager for the X11 Window System. A small memory footprint makes it a good choice for older computers and less powerful systems.
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Centremulti
centremulti.qc.ca › home › qc news › icewm: a lightweight window manager
IceWM: A Lightweight Window Manager — The Full Picture
December 3, 2025 - JWM (Joe’s Window Manager) is another contender, known for being very small and fast, often used in embedded systems and distributions like Puppy Linux. It also features a taskbar and menu system, making it quite functional out of the box. Compared to these, IceWM strikes a slightly different balance.