分类: LINUX
2010-05-25 14:58:46
Window managers are often divided into four classes, which describe how windows are drawn and updated:
Compositing window managers allow all windows to be created and drawn separately and then put together and displayed in various 2D and 3D environments. This allows for a great deal of variety in interface look and feel, and for the presence of advanced 2D and 3D visual effects.
Mac OS X was the first operating system to be packaged with a compositing window manager.
Compiz is also a compositing window manager.
All window managers that have overlapping windows and are not compositing window managers are stacking window managers, although it is possible that not all use exactly the same methodologies. Stacking window managers allow windows to overlap by drawing background windows first, which is referred to as painter's algorithm. Changes sometimes require all windows to be re-stacked or repainted which usually involves redrawing every window. However to bring a background window to the front usually only requires that one window to be redrawn, since background windows may have bits of other windows painted over them effectively erasing the areas that are covered.
Tiling window managers paint all windows on-screen by placing them side by side or above and below each other, so that no window ever covers another. Microsoft Windows 1.0 used tiling, and a variety of tiling window managers for X are available.
Dynamic window managers can dynamically switch between tiling or floating window layout. A variety of dynamic window managers for X are available.