For a full list of features and an in-depth explanation of those features, please see the documentation.

AHWM has these features:

• Small and fast
  AHWM has a very low memory footprint and is quite fast. AHWM can safely run on "legacy" workstations.
• Portable
  AHWM only relies on xlib, libc and some POSIX functions, so it can be used in many environments. AHWM does not require any toolkit libraries such as Xt, Athena, Motif, GTK+, QT nor any image libraries.
• Easily configurable
  All AHWM features can be configured through a human-readable configuration file. Features can be configured on a per-window basis and windows may be selected for configuration in many ways.
• Well-documented
  The AHWM configuration file is fully documented, unlike other window managers which have undocumented features or make documentation inaccessible.
• Keyboard-friendly
  All features were designed to be accessible from the keyboard. For example, it is possible to quickly move and resize windows using the keyboard and you can define which windows are eligible for focus when cycling through windows using the keyboard.
• Usable sloppy focus
  The sloppy focus model in all other window managers is broken and unusable. See this document for the details of how AHWM's sloppy focus differs from other window managers.
• Multiple workspaces
  Like any modern X11 window manager, AHWM supports multiple workspaces. Window configuration can be done per-workspace, so one can change the root background and window titlebar colors on a per-workspace basis, allowing one to recognize the current workspace at a glance.
• Shaped windows
  Shaped windows are supported. Shaped windows may be configured independently from other windows using the configuration file.
• Supports various window attributes
  The following window attributes can be set either by the user on a per-window basis via the configuration file:
  1. Always-on-top, always-on-bottom
  2. Omnipresent (appears in all workspaces)
  3. Skip alt-tab (don't cycle to window using keyboard)
  4. No titlebar
  5. Focus Policy
  6. Titlebar color
  7. Raise delay
  8. etc.
• Standards-compliant
  AHWM conforms to the following standards:

  ICCCM 2.0

  The newest version of the Inter-Client Communications Conventions Manual; this is the most basic document which specifies how a window manager should communicate with other clients. Most window managers only implement an older version of the ICCCM (1.1), but AHWM implements the latest version of the ICCCM (2.0 as of the year 2001).

  EWMH 1.1

  The Extended Window Manager Hints document is an attempt to standardize the hints that KDE and GNOME were doing differently a couple of years ago. Very few window managers support this standard at this time (late 2001).

  GNOME Hints

  The newest versions of GNOME will use the EWMH, but older versions of GNOME use the similar GNOME hints.

  MWM Hints

  Motif applications used some hints to speak to the Motif Window Manager. Since then, many applications have used these hints when they needed to specify how the window manager should decorate the application window.

• Garish decorations
  Windows may have a titlebar. Titlebars have titles. Windows do not have resize bars since resize bars are much more difficult to use compared to alt-right-drag. Titlebars do not have buttons because small buttons are difficult to hit with the mouse and it is much easier to bind a titlebar action to every combination of mouse button and modifier key. Titlebars are positioned horizontally at the top of windows and titlebar text is written horizontally, as this puts less stress on the X server. I may add color gradients and titlebar buttons at some point, but these are not a priority.
• Confusing pager semantics
  Workspaces are named using the natural numbers (1, 2, ...). There is no geometric relationship between workspaces. Each workspace's size is exactly equal to the resolution of the screen.
• Hidden windows
  Windows cannot be "hidden." If you don't wish to see a window, you can banish the window to a seldom-used workspace.
• Ugly icons
  Icons are not supported. Windows cannot be iconized. If a window asks to be iconized, the request is ignored (and this behaviour is perfectly admissable according to the ICCCM).
• Multiple X screens
  I have no way to test AHWM with multiple X screens, so only one screen is supported. If I ever get the hardware to use multiple X screens (or someone writes software which can emulate this), I'll add in support for this.