After three months of development, the release of the composite server Niri 25.11 has been published, implementing the tiling method in the style of the GNOME extension PaperWM, in which windows are grouped into an endlessly scrolling ribbon on the screen. Opening a new window causes the ribbon to expand, but previously added windows do not change their size. The project is based on the Wayland protocol, but allows you to run X11 applications using the Xwayland DDX server. The project code is written in Rust and is distributed under the GPLv3 license. Packages are generated for Fedora, NixOS, Arch Linux and FreeBSD.
The fundamental difference between Niri and PaperWM is that each monitor has its own ribbon of windows that does not intersect with the ribbons on other monitors (in PaperWM, separate work with monitors cannot be implemented due to binding to global window coordinates in GNOME Shell). Niri supports HiDPI and can run on systems with multiple GPUs (for example, hybrid systems with a discrete graphics card and an integrated GPU). There is a built-in interface for taking screenshots and recording screencasts, the feature of which is the ability to exclude individual windows with confidential information from recording.
Virtual desktops in Niri are created dynamically and, similar to GNOME, are placed vertically (the ribbon of windows rotates horizontally, and the ribbon of desktops rotates vertically). Each monitor can display an independent set of virtual desktops. You can use touchpad control gestures to switch between desktops and windows. When the monitor is turned off, the virtual desktop layout is remembered and transferred to the remaining monitor, and when the monitor is returned, it is restored to its original state. Configuration is carried out through a configuration file that allows you to change parameters such as frame width, padding, output modes, and window sizes. Changes made to the configuration file are applied automatically without restarting the composite server.
In the new version:
- Added an interface for switching between windows using Alt+Tab with displaying thumbnails while scrolling windows. It is possible to display windows linked to the current virtual desktop (“w” key) or output device (“o” key). The Alt+”‘” key combination is also available for switching between windows of the current application.
- Added animation effects for a window transitioning to full-screen mode and exiting it.