The K Desktop Environment

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5. Frequently Asked Questions

5.1 Why should I use kwm?

I spent several days in learning how to configure 10 different window mangers. Now that I have 678 lines of resource files doing exactly what I want, you are coming along and want to take my window manager away!

Answer: You should not, it is only a free offer. KDE supports all current window managers, but to get the full benefits it is recommended you use kwm. See the list of Features.

5.2 Why can't I define new shortcuts for launching applications?

Answer: Because this is not the task of the window manager. However, you could write a small application who does this. Using the class KGlobalAccel from libkdecore, every KDE application has easy access to system wide shortcuts.

5.3 Why does kwm look so much like Windows 95?

Answer: Ooops, does it? Let me see.... (Matthias trying to find somebody who has Windows 95 because he does not have Windows 95 on any his computers, ummm nobody has Windows 95 here. Well let's grab an old Linux distribution and install fvwm95-2.....) No, I can not verify that at all. KWM looks much prettier and offers more core window management functionality.

5.4 Is it possible to add KDE extensions to other window managers?

Answer: Yes it is. You simply have to go through kwm.h and kwm.C from libkdecore and extend your favorite window manager to respond correctly to these requests. We got reports that some other window managers support some or most of the hints already.

5.5 Does kwm support shaded windows a la OpenStep?

Answer: Yes.

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