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SaaSHub
saashub.com › home › linux › window manager
IceWM VS Openbox - compare differences & reviews?
Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support. ... Lightweight IceWM is designed to be fast and frugal with system resources, making it ideal for older hardware or systems with limited RAM and processing power.
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Slant
slant.co › topics › 1903 › versus › ~openbox_vs_icewm_vs_i3
Slant - Openbox vs IceWM vs i3
February 6, 2024 - Openbox does away with many traditional ... they can be added through others apps (e.g. tint2 for taskbar). ... IceWM has a great toolbar with monitoring applets....
Discussions

IceWM or openbox
I think I am going to try openbox with IceWM as a second choice. Appreciate the input. EARN REWARDS FOR ASKING, ANSWERING, AND MORE. Earn free swag for participating on the platform. ... Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 at Bell Labs. Today, it is a modern OS with many commercial flavors and licensees, including FreeBSD, Hewlett-Packard’s UX, IBM AIX and Apple Mac ... More on experts-exchange.com
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June 10, 2005
BSPWM vs Fluxbox Vs Openbox Vs IceWM which one have more graphical tools to config ?
Looking for an lightweight wm to replace mate on ubuntu, which one is the easiest to setup and which one have more graphical tools? Any other… More on reddit.com
🌐 r/linux4noobs
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November 16, 2018
is openbox a DE or WM? and is there a replacement?
These days it seems like I see a lot of people using the term "window manager" as if it only meant tiling window managers, but that ignores all the great stacking window managers on Linux that are not full desktop environments. And openbox is one of the greatest. If you like openbox you can install and use it on any distro. There's no need to use fluxbox or anything else if openbox is what you want. The exception, I guess, is if you need to use Wayland for some reason, in which case labwc is a Wayland compositor styled after openbox. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/linuxquestions
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12
September 30, 2024
Which Linux desktop environment is better for older computers? LXDE, Xfce, Openbox, or other?
Openbox is the lightest, LXDE is a heavily modified openbox, and Xfce is a little heavier in usage, but all 3 could potentially work depending on your hardware. More on reddit.com
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27
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October 23, 2014
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urukrama's weblog
urukrama.wordpress.com › 2008 › 04 › 26 › a-comparison-of-four-window-managers
A comparison of four window managers | urukrama's weblog
May 5, 2008 - Openbox, for example, does not support pixmap themes, but its theme options are the most complex and elaborate theme options of these four window managers (which makes creating themes for Openbox so much more fun!). Some features may also be primitively implemented: Pekwm supports dockapps, for instance, but its harbour is not very well developed. Nor does this chart provide an exhaustive list of features for these window manager. Icewm, for example, has a number of unique features that are not mentioned in this table (such as an email indicator and some system monitoring tools for the taskbar), and a lot of the basic features of window managers are left out.
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Blogarious
allencch.wordpress.com › 2023 › 03 › 20 › switching-from-openbox-to-icewm
Switching from Openbox to IceWM – Blogarious
March 19, 2023 - Hence I decided to try IceWM. After installation, I just need to configure it so that it resembles Openbox behaviour, especially the shortcut keys.
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Experts Exchange
experts-exchange.com › questions › 21454170 › IceWM-or-openbox.html
Solved: IceWM or openbox | Experts Exchange
June 10, 2005 - Openbox *is* a window manager. It just has a slightly different feature set. From wkipedia.org, this definition should help define for you the differences between "other" window managers (KDE, IceWM, etc) and openbox: "In Unix computing, Openbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License.
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Rambox
rambox.app › home › desktop optimization › the best 10 lightweight linux desktop environments in 2025
The Best 10 Lightweight Linux Desktop Environments in 2024 - Rambox
January 30, 2025 - It has been around since 1997 and has gained a reputation for being stable and highly customizable. IceWM is designed to work well even on older hardware or systems with limited resources. One of its most distinctive features is the ability to emulate the look and feel of other popular window managers, such as Windows or MacOS, making it an attractive choice for users familiar with those systems.
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Arch Linux Forums
bbs.archlinux.org › viewtopic.php
[SOLVED] LXDE with icewm instead of Openbox / Newbie Corner / Arch Linux Forums
According to the guide "OpenBox, the default window manager of LXDE, can be easily replaced by any one you like, such as fvwm, icewm, dwm and awesome...
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SaaSHub
saashub.com › icewm-alternatives
IceWM Alternatives & Competitors - SaaSHub
Some of the top features or benefits of IceWM are: Lightweight, Customizable, Simple and Intuitive, Stable and Reliable, Efficient with X Resources, and Integrated Taskbar. You can visit the info page to learn more. We have listed more than 10 alternatives to IceWM. You can find them below. The top competitors are: Fluxbox, Openbox, and i3.
Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/linuxquestions › is openbox a de or wm? and is there a replacement?
r/linuxquestions on Reddit: is openbox a DE or WM? and is there a replacement?
September 30, 2024 -

i used to use openbox many years ago because of hardware limitations. it just felt like lighter XFCE to me who only needed to use office and gimp. i wanted to set up an old core2duo laptop with it for some fun and maybe to have a spotify box. turns out last update was 2015 apparently, so i thought id try some tiling windows managers as thought they might be closer to open box than most modern DEs, well i3 seemed nothing like it and strongly disliked that.

what is open box and if i wanted to replicate that feel how would i achieve that? or would a simpler answer be to install bunsenlabs or archbang as they mention openbox? this will be an old core2duo dell laptop with surpringly good speakers and limited recources 3gb ram no ssd, Spotify app and cd playing/burning.

Top answer
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Openbox was a WM. Probably the closest WM you’ll get to it is FluxBox, but also check out IceWM. Either way, sounds like a good system for AntiX. It’s a really lightweight distro that can run with 256MB of RAM
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Openbox is a simple Window Manager, there have been other "box" named window managers such as 'fluxbox' and I think a few others. It was the WM in use by the LXDE project. That may be what you are thinking of, that project i think moved onto using stuff from KDE and is now 'lxqt'. tiling windows managers as thought they might be closer to open box I dont recall openbox ever having any Tiling features. From https://openbox.org/ Openbox is a minimalistic, highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support. The *box visual style is well known for its minimalistic appearance. Openbox uses the *box visual style, while providing a greater number of options for theme developers than previous *box implementations. The theme documentation describes the full range of options found in Openbox themes. Openbox lets you bring the latest applications outside of a full desktop environment. Most modern applications have been written with GNOME and KDE in mind. With support for the latest freedesktop.org standards, as well as careful adherence to previous standards, Openbox provides an environment where applications work the way they were designed to. Openbox makes desktop environments better. By running Openbox inside the GNOME or K desktop environments, you can combine their ease and functionality with the power of Openbox. Your desktop becomes cleaner and faster, and is in your control, when you use Openbox. Almost any Distro should be able to install and run Openbox. I have used it on my low end raspberry pi's to high end gaming systems. I use openbox when i need something very simple for a project, or as a backup WM for troubleshooting.
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AlternativeTo
alternativeto.net › software › icewm
IceWM Alternatives: Top 12 Window Managers & Similar Apps | AlternativeTo
May 10, 2024 - It is fast and memory-efficient, and it provides many different looks including Windows'95, OS/2 Warp 3,4, Motif' and is a Window Manager in the os & utilities category. There are more than 50 alternatives to IceWM for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Wayland, BSD, Mac and X11 apps.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/linux › which linux desktop environment is better for older computers? lxde, xfce, openbox, or other?
r/linux on Reddit: Which Linux desktop environment is better for older computers? LXDE, Xfce, Openbox, or other?
October 23, 2014 - LXDE performs better and XFCE is prettier/easier to configure. So if you want to save on resources and and have maximum performance, go with LXDE but realize that any customization usually involves editing text config files, and it's never gonna ...
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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 - I shut down OpenBox and install the new window manager or desktop environment. I run the WM/DE as it comes up by default, without any kind of customization. The container works in a separate filesystem, and it will not overwrite the real filesystem on my computer. The computer is an older 64-bit machine, running Ubuntu 12.04.
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LinuxQuestions.org
linuxquestions.org › questions › linux-desktop-74 › fluxbox-blackbox-openbox-icewm-or-other-496264
Fluxbox, Blackbox, Openbox, IceWM, or other?
October 27, 2006 - Im looking for the most lightweight as im running a P3 500mhz 192mb RAM. Im willing to learn, experiment, and tinker with stuff to get it working.
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Wordpress
kmandla.wordpress.com › 2008 › 10 › 23 › openbox-the-one-way-window-manager
Openbox, the one-way window manager | Motho ke motho ka botho
October 23, 2008 - No matter what window manager I use, I always end up rearranging it to make it closer to my Openbox setups. XFCE? Needs to be less pudgy around the corners, and needs an easier right-click menu. IceWM? Looks better without the taskbar, and IceWM-lite is just about right.
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SaaSHub
saashub.com › home › linux › window manager
i3 VS Openbox - compare differences & reviews?
Minimal Default Appearance Without customization, i3 offers a very minimalistic and barebones visual experience, which may not be appealing to all users. Lightweight Openbox is a highly efficient window manager that requires minimal system resources, making it an excellent choice for older hardware or systems with limited resources.
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SaaSHub
saashub.com › home › linux › window manager
Fluxbox VS IceWM - compare differences & reviews?
If you want to customize in detail your desktop and are not afraid to edit text files, awesome and fluxbox can be your option. Source: almost 3 years ago ... As far as wms go, I always liked fluxbox and xmonad. Openbox has its fans, and i3 is very popular. I prefer a de over a wm but I know a lot of people use i3.
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SaaSHub
saashub.com › openbox-alternatives
Openbox Alternatives & Competitors - SaaSHub
August 9, 2024 - Some of the top features or benefits ... Customizable, Fast Performance, Comprehensive Keybindings, and Extensible. You can visit the info page to learn more. We have listed more than 10 alternatives to Openbox. You can find them below. The top competitors are: i3, Fluxbox, and awesome. Apart from the top ones, people also compare Openbox with Hyprland, bspwm, and IceWM...