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i3 ruined my life. It's an absolute delight to use, particularly when programming. However, its hard to get Linux laptops at work (Mac or Windows), and I constantly miss i3.

Also, among all tiling window managers, I think its config is probably the most intuitive to mingle with. Hardly ever breaks (if ever) between upgrades, and default workflow is very intuitive and explicit. Other window managers (eg. Awesome, xmonad) have pre-defined layouts, which (for me at-least) create more confusion than value.

PS> I think I've been using i3 since 2010 something.

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If you're on Mac, I can't recommend the yabai [1]/skhd [2] combo enough!

I haven't used i3, so I don't know if yabai mirrors the i3 experience, but it's a very nice programmable keyboard-centric tiling wm for macOS.

[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai

[2] https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd/

i'm interested in an xmonad equivalent for client work that mandates use of OS X.

these looks good, thanks for sharing - have you tried amethyst?

Yabai gives the basic i3 experience. It's not as polished, but it's pretty great once you figure out a good config.

i3 has the benefit of being in an OS that doesn't use a super key for everything.

For Yabai, I mapped caps as HYPER -- which is good for most combinations.

How did you setup your menu bar? I can't find something that can replicate the i3bar/polybar experience, and I don't like having the native mac menu bar as it is hard to see the desktop I currently am on.

I haven't set it up.

I've been lucky, I've run Linux on my work devices for the past four jobs (since 2012). I would hate to work in a position where I was forced to use a Windows or Mac device.

> have pre-defined layouts, which (for me at-least) create more confusion than value.

The reason (at least for AwesomeWM, but DWM too) we use pre-defined layouts is because you can (and should) pass your own functions for each tag/workflow. This way you don't have to manage the layouts manually.

Once you add the custom business logic, it becomes very predictable. Plus, AwesomeWM is modular, so if you want i3 style layouts, you can just do it (https://elv13.github.io/client_tiling/dynamite.html , by me). Of course not all users want/have_the_time to optimize their workflow. Those people should probably stick with i3. AwesomeWM is all about customization/workflow_optimization, that's time consuming, but you have a good ROI.

Can you just use a VM? I run it in Parallels at my work which only has mac laptops.

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