Comment by satysin | Hacker News Reader

Comment by satysin | Hacker News Reader

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Tiling window managers are great and they are the biggest overall UX difference I miss when using macOS and Windows vs Linux.

I've tried many things for both macOS and Windows to get that "i3wm feel" but nothing quite scratches the itch. macOS can get close but sadly requires disabling security features in macOS for deep integration and that is something I don't care to entertain personally. So I make do with macOS's Spaces and Magnet (a nice third party application for hotkey window 'snapping', there are good free/oss alternatives also such as Spectacle).

Windows 11 is getting some more powerful snapping options plus Microsoft's Fancy Zones PowerToy is quite nice although a far cry from i3 or similar.

When on a laptop a twm is freakin' awesome* as dealing with overlapping windows is such a pain in the ass on a 13-15" screen. Is a little sad when I see people fiddling about to get two or three windows resized using a trackpad.

Hopefully with the enhancements in Windows 11 we will see more progress towards automatic window layout and management . While unlikely it would be nice if Apple take note for Microsoft's changes also.

*pun intended ;)

I have written my own bspwm-like twm for Windows which is actively developed and supported: https://github.com/LGUG2Z/komorebi

It supports multiple monitors, multiple workspaces per monitor, multiple containers per workspace, multiple windows per container (stacks)

It also supports Windows 11 and comes with a batteries-included configuration sample that "just works" and is installable via scoop.

I've made my own tiling WM for Windows (non-free): https://losttech.software/stack.html

But it does not work like i3. You predefine the layouts (which can be dynamic).

For macOS, I use Amethyst, recommended here on HN and works fine without disabling security features.

https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst

I use it when I use OS X, but I find it’s not substitute for i3/sway. It’s better than nothing but I still greatly miss a “native” tiling WM when using it.

I have used Amethyst and it works alright but is still a long way from i3 or dwm. Mostly because dealing with different virtual desktops (Spaces) is quite janky as it isn't managed by the wm but automating macOS in ways it wasn't designed to be automated.

The Pi's LXDE taskbar button toggle behavior fixes OSX's. Further personalizing in lxde-pi-rc.xml is awesome comfy.

You may want to try out the yabai window manager for OS X. It’s the closest thing to i3 I can think of.

I have used yabai but unfortunately you need to disable SIP so it can inject the Dock.app process with some custom functionality. I forge the specifics but last I checked that had not changed so it was a no go for me.

I use Yabai without disabling SIP. It basically means some of the functionality won't work, but the main tiling stuff still works great. For me, the main feature that won't work without disabling SIP is commands to manipulate spaces and move windows between them, but I've got used to just using one workspace per monitor and hiding/showing windows as needed now anyway.

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