9wm is an X window manager which attempts to emulate the Plan 9 window manager 8-1/2 as far as possible within the constraints imposed by X. It provides a simple yet comfortable user interface, without garish decorations or title-bars. Or icons. And it's click-to-type. This will not appeal to everybody, but if you're not put off yet then read on. (And don't knock it until you've tried it). One major difference between 9wm and 8-1/2 is that the latter provides windows of text with a typescript interface, and doesn't need to run a separate program to emulate a terminal. 9wm, as an X window manager, does require a separate program. For better 8-1/2 emulation, you should obtain Matthew Farrow's "9term" program (ftp://ftp.cs.su.oz.au/matty/unicode), version 1.6 or later (earlier versions don't cooperate with 9wm in implementing "hold mode"). Of course, you can run xterm under 9wm as well.