The latest version  vtwm-5.4.7.tar.gz

Vtwm-hackers mailinglist.

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Use the experiences of other users now, who usually have a better clue than us about actually using VTWM. Maintain your list subscription at cod.sandelman.ca.

Vtwm today...

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VTWM, one of many TWM descendants, implements a Virtual Desktop (VD), meaning that what is currently on screen is just a portion of a larger workspace. What portion of the virtual desktop that is displayed, and whatever windows might be visible within it, are simple point-and-click operations within a scaled representation of the workspace.

VTWM...
-- is user-configurable: The VD's initial scale, size, and position. The colors of the VD, the real screen, and the windows within. The windows that may or may not be represented within. External image (XPM) files can decorate the VD and the real screen;
-- is not constrained. The VD can be freely moved and resized - it's just another managed window, after all;
-- allows the real screen to be positioned anywhere within the VD, or aligned on an user-defined grid. VTWM can toggle this behavior on-the-fly;
-- has "doors". They move the real screen to preset or set-on-the-fly coordinates in the VD with a single click or keystroke;
-- root window is really the root window - applications that can draw on the root can do so unhindered;
-- supports the moving and resizing of windows on the display from it's representation in the VD;
-- doesn't support moving a window on the display into the VD, or visa-versa. Not yet;
-- does generate more X protocol traffic than some other implementations, which may be a concern if a remote server is used;
-- uses 0.6 mem and less than 0,1 CPU. <--- WOW! (according to 'top')

VTWM suports a fully configurable 3D interface.
Check out the "Vtwm and..." page for sample configuration files and examples of the interfaces users of Vtwm have made for you. In fact they're using it mostly on as daily base.

Variables and Bindings: Make VTWM work with you.
VTWM parses one of a variety of resource files. They are simple, plain-text documents. Within a resource file, you may specify variables that set up overall traits like GUI features, auto-raising windows, screen panning, and the like. You may also bind nearly any combination of pointer buttons or keys to any number of functions and contexts.
There is no configuration tool. Nobody's written one, and they usually end up crippling the potential, anyway.
VTWM maintains backward compatability with TWM, adds a slew of it's own variables and functions, and can throw in m4 pre-processing, to boot!

Icon Managers: The badly-named feature.
Long before Microsoft presented the taskbar, TWM had the icon manager; a little window filled with buttons, each indicating the state of a managed window. By default, icon managers forward events to the indicated application window. Within this context, however, keys could be bound to navigation functions, for fast access to managed windows. Pointer buttons can be bound to nearly any function you'd bind directly to an application window. You can have multiple icon managers, too, for visually segregated applications.

VTWM's footprint.
The virtual desktop and other features of version 5.4 haven't made it another bloated X client. It requires only Xlib, Xext, and Xmu, but depending on build configuration, also the Xpm, regex, and/or rplay libraries. It can still build and run under X11R4, and lose no self-supported functionality.

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