Window

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This is about desktop windows, not to be confused with the MS Windows operating system.

A Window is concept in the desktop metaphor of modern graphical computing.

A Window represents an application process on the desktop, it is a frame, typically oblong, which contains all display elements of the program, such as buttons and user interface controls (widgets) as well as display areas. The web-browser you are currently using to view this page is a window.

Windows can be manipulated with the mouse and keyboard, for example clicking elements in the window can trigger activities, and in most cases the window can be dragged and resized by clicking and dragging the frame that surrounds the window.

To resize a window, drag the corner, to move a window drag the colored bar that sits atop the window.

Most Window Managers offer controls that look like this:

From left to right these icons minimise the window, reducing it to an entry in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen; maximize/restore the window, resizing it to fill the whole screen, or restoring it to normal size; and close the window. If a process has no more windows, it typically exits altogether.

Windows can be "stacked" pseudo-three-dimensionally on top of each other like pieces of paper on a desktop. To bring a window to the "front" click on it. Generally the last application used is at the front, and the first application used is at the rear. This order is called the "Z-order" but this term is rarely used.

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