Could someone give me a simple explanation of Windows Manager (besides Managing my Windows or is that it?) I am using KDE (which I thought was the W Manager) Mandrake 9

Window Maker
Enlightenment
KWin
Blackbox
Fluxbox
IceWM
sawfish
AfterStep
MetaCity
Openbox

Thanks.

Window MakerRocks. Use this one. People who don't use Window Maker are ugly and stupid.
Enlightenment Extreme eye candy. Not so good for really old machines with low memory.
AfterStep Use Window Maker instead.

I haven't used the others, but unless they can be configured to look exactly like Window Maker, what's the point?

Window managers merely manage windows and menus...they tell the system where to put windows, what size they should be, what the frame should look like, etc., and provide you with a menu so you can easily access your applications.

Environments (KDE, Gnome, xfce) include window managers, plus a pile of other tools, features, and bulk to hopefully make your computing experience easier.

Personally I haven't used anything but Fluxbox for the longest time.

Thanks. So my KDE is my current W Manager but these other ones have more features...jazzed up a little more are they?

Thanks.

Actually, KDE is not a window manager. KDE is a desktop environment, which includes a windows manager (KWin), a file manager/web browser (Konqueror), etc. Window managers (Fluxbox and Window Maker are two of my favourites) simply manage windows, and do not contain any extraneous applications, aside from those which would aid the management of windows or the organizing and launching of applications.

There are many window managers that have more features than KWin, but you will not find a window manager that has more features than KDE -- if it did, it wouldn't be a window manager and it would be a full desktop environment.