When I see screenshots with window decorators like that I always wonder if there's someone actually using an ancient computer or if the screenshots are just really really old. I tend to guess it's the latter.
It's not a real OS if it doesn't have ads flying out when you click controls, and constantly telling you the forecast and what Taylor Swift is up to this minute.
before fvwm tvtwm was was my choice. fvwm improved on that dramatically with its featureset. but even fvwm i stopped using already 25 years ago because nicer alternatives became available (i used window maker for a long time, then compiz, now i am just lazy with standard gnome)
yeah, i tried lots of things all over the place, including, but not limited to things mentioned in this thread, but the hobbit in me keeps going there and back...
it appears the author is running freebsd, and based on the style of the title and border i am guessing that this is the fvwm windowmanager, the screen background on some of the images seems to support that.
Window decorator has a specific meaning in X terminology, referring to the frame of the window done by the window manager.
The screenshots are using some commercial Unix wm (mwm?) or one of the free ones that copies their look (fvwm?)
I use fvwm on one of my machines in 2023, in part because I found myself on a retro kick a few years ago, so I don't think it's that weird, though it is extremely dated.
It's the third option. A modern computer running modern software that just didn't bother to look modern. Turns out there are some significant performance gains to be had if you don't care too much about your window decorations looking flashy.
Using an older window manager is usually a case of installing its package and adding it to a file executed by your display manager. I don't have much love for the old window managers, but some of the newer ones are quite nice.
As for the old window managers (and applications) themselves, I would imagine they are still bundled with Debian. Now that Debian allows non-open drivers in their official installation media, I'm tempted to try installing it to relive some of that X11 nostalgia. (I have fond memories of xv, xfig, and such.)
