My favorite software package for MSW (Microsoft Windows) systems is CygWin. A full install of CygWin provides a Unix-like interface to your MSW machine that includes all the common GNU tools and a very complete X11 Windows implementation. The GNU compilers are included, and many Open Source Linux and Unix codes compile easily in this environment. You can download CygWin for personal use for free.

Those unfamilar with CygWin should see the Cygwin Home Page at http://www.cygwin.com .

If you have CygWin installed with the X11 Windows interface you may be interested in a setup file for the twm(1) or ctwm(1) X11 window manager program. It not only sets up twm(1) nicely, it includes dozens of scripts that help you take advantage of CygWin. Just download the file TWM.tar.gz ( or TWM6.tar.gz for pre-X11R7 versions of CygWin X11) . Place it in your home directory and run the following commands:

  ##############################################################################
  # do this once:
  tar xvfz TWM.tar.gz # creates files in $HOME/.twm
  ##############################################################################
  # do this to start twm(1) or ctwm(1):
  ksh $HOME/.twm/starttwm   # starts the window manager
  # At the prompt for which mode to use, entering "b" is a good first choice.
  ##############################################################################

You can start multiple displays by using

  env DISPLAY_TYPE=B $HOME/.twm/starttwm   
  

multiple times (until you run out of memory, that is).

All the files reside in the directory $HOME/.twm. Even if you don't use the window manager setup, you will find dozens of useful scripts that show how to take advantage of the special integrated environment.

Other images

ctwm with menus from windows mixed with Vista
( env DISPLAY_TYPE=R $HOME/.twm/starttwm)