Window Managers (retired)
Window managers are no longer offered by the Andronix installer. Use a desktop environment instead. This page is kept for existing installs.
Window managers have been retired
Andronix 2.0 no longer offers window managers (Awesome, i3 and Openbox). New installs come with a desktop environment (XFCE, LXQt, MATE or KDE Plasma) or the command line only. If your version of the app still shows a Window Manager option, pick a desktop environment instead. When an old window-manager command runs the Andronix 2.0 installer, it installs XFCE and tells you so.
Distros you already installed with a window manager keep working. This page is kept for them. See Installs from before Andronix 2.0.
This page explains what a window manager (WM) is and which WMs the pre-2.0 installer offered for each distro.
According to the Wikipedia article on window managers:
A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment. They work in conjunction with the underlying graphical system that provides required functionality—support for graphics hardware, pointing devices, and a keyboard, and are often written and created using a widget toolkit.
In simpler terms, a window manager is a program that places, removes and generally manages your windows.
What Window Managers did Andronix offer?
The pre-2.0 installer offered Awesome, i3 and Openbox.
Window Manager List
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Ubuntu Awesome i3 Openbox
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Debian Awesome i3 Openbox
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Kali Awesome i3 Openbox
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Manjaro Awesome i3 Openbox
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Fedora Awesome i3 Openbox
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Void Awesome i3 Openbox
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Alpine
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Arch Awesome i3 Openbox
What should I use instead?
Pick a desktop environment. XFCE is our recommendation. If you liked a window manager for its light weight, try LXQt.
You can still install a window manager yourself inside a distro with its package manager, for example sudo apt install i3 on Debian, but Andronix doesn't set it up or support it.
Next steps
- Desktop Environments: the desktops the installer offers.
- Install a distro with a desktop environment.
- Installs from before Andronix 2.0: what happens to your existing install.
Old Install Guides
VNC, sound and phone-storage instructions for distros installed before Andronix 2.0 and for the Classic Modded OS editions.
XSDL Basics (outdated)
How XSDL was used to show an Andronix distro's desktop. Outdated, because Andronix 2.0 is built and tested for VNC. Kept for existing installs.