::X Window System

Server::xfree    System::display    Window::client    Window::computer    Title::software    System::protocol

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A historical example of graphical user interface and applications common to the MIT X Consortium's distribution running under the twm window manager: X Terminal, Xbiff, xload and a graphical manual page browser

A modern example of a graphical user interface using X11 and KDE.

The X Window System (X11, X, and sometimes informally X-Windows) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on UNIX-like computer operating systems.

X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting with a mouse and keyboard. X does not mandate the user interface — this is handled by individual programs. As such, the visual styling of X-based environments varies greatly; different programs may present radically different interfaces.

X originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984. The protocol version has been X11 since September 1987. The X.Org Foundation leads the X project, with the current reference implementation, X.Org Server, available as free and open source software under the MIT License and similar permissive licenses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

X Window System sections
Intro   Purpose and abilities    Software architecture    Principles    User interfaces    Implementations    Limitations and criticism    Competitors    History    Future directions    Nomenclature    Release history    See also    Notes    References    External links   

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