X tile: tile windows in different way

Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Tips & Tricks
#1

Hallo,
I would recommend this application I use with Ubuntu Mate since 12.04

http://www.giuspen.com/x-tile/

X-tile is an application that allows you to select a number of windows and tile them in different ways.
X-tile works on any X desktop (gnome, kde, xfce, lxde…).
The main features are: many tiling geometries, undo tiling, invert tiling order, optional system tray docking and menu, filter to avoid listing some windows, filter to check some windows by default, command line interface.

I find it very useful, especially with keyboard shortcuts or panel launchers.

screencast x tile see full screen

XTile with Marco windows manager works perfectly, on the forum I’ve read that it works also with Compiz.
I have prepared icons modified by me with gimp, to put in the panel the most used command launchers, otherwise there are also icons in /usr/share/x-tile/glade , but mine are more visible.

horizontal
vertical
invert
maximize
undo

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One option for weak or old machines
#2

Worth mentioning, from the same author of CherryTree.; The only note taking application in the whole Linux ecosystem I could stand using. Not perfect, but miles ahead of anything being offered, other than the more professional solutions like EverNote. Used it extensively until I moved all my notes to a blog-like solution, Pelican.

#3

Interesting. I never was a fan of tiling. I somehow used to prefer to have one maximised window on each workspace (especially browser windows).

#4

It’s a specialized window arrangement which is deeply tied to two aspects: the type of applications you use and whether you were able to adopt its paradigm. You’ll find it more often among programmers, scientists and researchers, writers, IT professionals, on stock markets, hospitals, airlines, factories…

At its core, titling window managers are a transposition of the traditional application layout onto the desktop. Looking at an application like, say, LibreOffice or an IDE, you’ll find their layout elements are tiled on the screen. This is of course a necessity. Tiling windows moves this paradigm out of the application and into the desktop. It follows the same idea of permitting quick access to different areas of the desktop (applications) and allowing for multiple applications to be viewed at the same time.

I have started to learn to appreciate the paradigm when I first felt the necessity to buy a second monitor. My motivation was not exactly to increase my desktop space, but to be able to see multiple applications at the same time. Essentially I needed to tile my monitors. Programming on one screen and having documentation opened on another, for instance. But it was only when I met Linux that I finally was able to experiment. The i3 Tiling WM was still on its infancy but quickly became my de facto desktop. For some reason I was able to quickly get into the paradigm. Others may not find it so easy.

Today I use it less often. My days of programming are over and I do it only as a sporadic hobby. But every time I do my math study and research and use the available software on Linux, that’s when I miss i3 greatly. With my move to Arch Linux however, I will have a chance to use it once more. I couldn’t quite ever get it to work nicely with Ubuntu.

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#5

I just know that showing windows side by side is very useful to compare documents, spreadsheets, and so on. With XTile I can do this easily.

I do not use Compiz because it’s heavy even on computers that are still quite new, furthermore, those graphic effects tire my eyes.

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#6

Interesting. Now I can see how some heavy users with very specific use cases might benefit from these > 2 tiling arrangements.

However, I tend to agree with @Mary.

In the rare cases, I need multiple applications at the same time, the maximum is usually two. I can then easily split and snap my screen side by side and that’s enough for me, too. :slight_smile:

#7

@ marfig

http://i3wm.org/docs/repositories.html

On the I3 site there is the repository for Ubuntu, so they say.
Could you try X-tile and then make a comparison?
X-Tile is already in deb format.
By curiosity I tell you that by turning the deb into rpm, I have also installed Xtile on Pclinuxos Mate and I read in a forum that also works on arch.

#8

Tiling window systems are great if you have a lot of small things. There are some use cases where one window, maximized doesn’t make any sense whatsoever which is why I try to blend the two methodologies together with virtual desktops.

A bunch of notes don’t work as one window, while an app with different panes don’t work as a small window. Which is why I’ve never been a big fan of window managers that force tiling, rather I prefer window managers that keep the door open for different options, since most personal computer use is amorphous and ever-changing.

From what I’ve read in the OP, the post sounds like it advocates software similar to xmonad, i3 and awesome. Great for some people, if select users can work within the boundaries of whatever tiling WM they choose.

#9

I don’t know exactly which is the difference between X-tile and the other softwares , with X-tile you can choose which application to tile.
This kind of program does not replace virtual desktops but is to compare 2 or more windows I need to be on the same workspace e.g to copy and paste data.
But when I do not need it then I use the 4 workspaces.