Window Manager - Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows has provided an integrated stacking window manager since Windows 2.0; Windows Vista introduced the compositing dwm.exe as an optional hardware-accelerated alternative. In Windows, the role of the window manager is tightly coupled with the kernel's graphical subsystems and is largely non-replaceable, although third-party utilities can be used to simulate a Tiling window manager on top of such systems.

Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) is used by default in modern Windows systems to provide a panel and file manager, along with many functions of a window manager; aspects of Windows can be modified through the provided configuration utilities, modifying the Windows registry or with 3rd party tools, such as WindowBlinds or Resource Hacker.

The Windows window manager can also act as an X window manager through Cygwin/X in multiwindow mode (and, possibly, other X window implementations).

Note that Microsoft and X Window System use different terms to describe similar concepts. For example, there is no specific word for window manager functionality in Windows (shell is sometimes used in this context, but its sense is fuzzy); probably, lacking such a term, Microsoft avoids advertising of third-party window managers.