TWM
Shares rank 16 of 30 window managers by recommenders
A lightweight, uncluttered X11 window manager that people recommend for running well on old or low-memory machines and for its clean, flat look.
A lightweight, uncluttered X11 window manager that people recommend for running well on old or low-memory machines and for its clean, flat look.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Clean, flat, uncluttered look
“TWM is less cluttered and less features is actually more here”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone” “the general flat clean look that came with eg TWM and co.”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Stolen Buttons” “Yep, I like TWM on design too”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone” Runs well on low-end hardware
“it lead to a really performant desktop on the single-core ~400mhz machines we had in our computer lab”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Tcl/Tk 9.1” “I'm using 1GB with TWM, DIllo, TUI tools, XTerm, MuPDF and the like.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “The RAM shortage comes for us all” Thin desktop for Linux
“If you like that general esthetic, you can try that today in your GNU/Linux distro.”
Comment from 28 May 2026 in “Nitpicking the shell history scene in 'Tron: Legacy'” “I recommend everyone to switch not only to linux but TWM (thin X11 desktop)”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark”
Other window managers people recommend
The four most recommended other window managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyprland | 82 | 33 | 71% | 12 | 1 mo4 owners | Approved |
| Rectangle for macOS | 67 | 3 | 96% | 11 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Enlightenment window manager | 51 | 19 | 73% | 8 | — | Approved |
| FVWM | 28 | 4 | 88% | 8 | 25 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| TWMThis page | 9 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“replicates the described behaviour with the pin-point precision”
“TWM has features that Windows doesn't”
“it lead to a really performant desktop on the single-core ~400mhz machines we had in our computer lab”
“the general flat clean look that came with eg TWM and co.”
“If you like that general esthetic, you can try that today in your GNU/Linux distro.”
“On CTWM, you can straightly import the TWM config modulo some slight error on a single line”
“Yep, I like TWM on design too”
“TWM is less cluttered and less features is actually more here”
“can be as good as TWM but with better features (sticky menus and the like)”
“I'm using 1GB with TWM, DIllo, TUI tools, XTerm, MuPDF and the like.”
“I recommend everyone to switch not only to linux but TWM (thin X11 desktop)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.