| Metacity | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Metacity running onGNOME | |
| Developer | The GNOME Project |
| Initial release | 2.4.2 5 October 2002; 23 years ago (2002-10) |
| Stable release | 3.56.0[1]  / 26 April 2025 |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Platform | GNOME |
| Type | X window manager |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Website | gitlab |
| Repository | |
Metacity (pronounced/məˈtæsɪti/)[2] was the defaultwindow manager used by theGNOME 2desktop environment[3][4] until it was replaced byMutter in GNOME 3.[5] It is still used byGNOME Flashback, a session for GNOME 3 that provides a similar user experience to the Gnome 2.x series sessions.[6]
The development of Metacity was started byHavoc Pennington and it was released under theGNU General Public License. Before the introduction of Metacity in GNOME 2.2, GNOME usedEnlightenment and thenSawfish as its window manager.[citation needed] Although Metacity was designed to integrate into the GNOME desktop, it does not require it to run,[citation needed] while GNOME can be used with different window managers provided that they support the part of theICCCM specification that GNOME requires.[citation needed]
Metacity uses theGTK graphicalwidget toolkit to create its user interface components, which makes it themeable and makes it blend in with other GTK applications. Originally, Metacity used GTK 2 however as of version 3.12.0 it has been ported to GTK 3.[7]
Metacity's focus is on simplicity and usability rather than novelties. Its author has characterized it as a "Boring window manager for the adult in you. Many window managers are like MarshmallowFroot Loops; Metacity is likeCheerios."[2] People in favour of Metacity say that it is aimed at new computer users who do not need the abundant options and functionality ofSawfish orEnlightenment.[8] Havoc Pennington wrote an essay explaining why he wrote Metacity and simplified the GNOME desktop.[9]
Despite the incomplete state of Metacity theme development documentation, many themes have been written for Metacity.[10] A popular theme engine isClearlooks, which was the default in GNOME from version 2.12[11] until the release of GNOME 3 and GNOME Shell.
| Core Applications | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extras |
| ||||||||||||||
| Components |
| ||||||||||||||
| Community | |||||||||||||||
| People | |||||||||||||||
