There are a lot of classic Linux desktop environments that emulate the look of other desktop environments or are just very nice to use. Here are some good tips and resources for classic Linux window managers.
WindowMaker is one classic desktop environment. This emulates the look of the NextStep operating system. This has a lot of very useful applets that may be used on the desktop.
Here is a listing of a few of them.
http://www.cs.mun.ca/~gstarkes/wmaker/dockapps/sys.html.
The source code for each applet is provided on the page. This is the most comprehensive listing of all WindowMaker applets I have managed to find. An oldie but a goodie. Another good desktop window manager is the AmiWM desktop. This emulates an old Amiga desktop interface and is a fast and slim WM. More information about this Window Manager is here: https://www.lysator.liu.se/~marcus/amiwm.html. The Netscape Navigator screenshot is very nostalgic, this browser is the ancestor of the Mozilla and then Firefox browser. Another very fast desktop window manager is Larswm, this is a very fast Window Manager indeed. It has a lot of very useful keyboard shortcuts and a configuration file you may edit to configure the look and feel.
All you need is a good ~/.xinitrc and set up the proper commands to run this desktop, then you are ready to enjoy this desktop. FVWM is yet another desktop environment for Linux. This is infinitely customisable and can be made to look like other desktops like the Windows `95 desktop or even a UNIX desktop. The ~/.fvwm2rc file allows comprehensive customisation of this desktop environment.
Download the FVWM themes archive here: http://fvwm-themes.sourceforge.net/.
A sample ~/.fvwmrc file I was using a long time ago.
https://securitronlinux.com/unix/very-nice-fvwm-config-to-provide-a-very-useful-desktop-interface/.
IceWM is another nice window manager for Linux. This can look just like Windows XP or Windows `95. It is fast and very usable.
Below is my old $HOME/.icewm/preferences file. This can be used with the IcewM window manager to provide a Windows `95 styled look and feel. But there are sins for this WM that make it look like Windows XP if desired. It is quite convincing.
If you desire a very fast window manager for an older machine maybe, then Blackbox would suit you fine. This is rather like Fluxbox, but older. It is superfast and light.
Here is a very nice Chernobyl theme file for Blackbox.
My Blackbox config file. $HOME/.blackboxrc This configuration file has a much more verbose display of time and date on the taskbar using strftime formatting. The only thing is the seconds do not count in real-time like with IceWM, but you could always use Xclock.
session.screen0.slit.placement: CenterRight session.screen0.slit.direction: Vertical session.screen0.slit.onTop: False session.screen0.slit.autoHide: False session.screen0.toolbar.onTop: False session.screen0.toolbar.autoHide: False session.screen0.toolbar.placement: BottomCenter session.screen0.toolbar.widthPercent: 66 session.screen0.workspaces: 2 session.screen0.focusLastWindow: False session.screen0.disableBindingsWithScrollLock: False session.screen0.workspaceNames: Workspace 1,Workspace 2 session.screen0.colPlacementDirection: TopToBottom session.screen0.fullMaximization: False session.screen0.rowPlacementDirection: LeftToRight session.screen0.focusModel: SloppyFocus AutoRaise session.screen0.focusNewWindows: False session.screen0.windowPlacement: RowSmartPlacement session.screen0.edgeSnapThreshold: 0 session.screen0.strftimeFormat: %a-%d-%b-%Y %H:%M:%S session.doubleClickInterval: 250 session.colorsPerChannel: 4 session.autoRaiseDelay: 400 session.cacheMax: 200 session.opaqueMove: False session.imageDither: True session.styleFile: /usr/share/blackbox/styles/Chernobyl session.menuFile: /etc/X11/blackbox/blackbox-menu session.cacheLife: 5 |
How to add a custom menu to Fluxbox to list your favourite applications.
Some awesome Fluxbox themes for your Linux desktop.
https://securitronlinux.com/bejiitaswrath/some-awesome-fluxbox-themes-for-your-linux-desktop/.
The OpenLook Window Manager
This is a very old UNIX Window Manager. This was once the standard window manager for Sun’s OpenWindows, before Sun adopted Motif, CDE, and then more recently, GNOME. It has a virtual desktop pager and a root menu. Very nice I think. And very light on system resources as well.
Read more about this desktop and find some downloads here: http://www.xwinman.org/olvwm.php.
The old aewm Window Manager is a very old one. This is controlled entirely with a mouse and dragging windows requires using the middle mouse button which is very strange, it is apparently a very fiddly desktop environment to use. But interesting nonetheless.
More information here: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Guide_to_X11/Window_Managers/aewm.