One of my favorite things about i3 is that it doesn't force itself on you when it's not needed. You can keep it "in the background" in tabbed mode, effectively using it like a non-tiling WM, as long as you want. Just let your windows pile up and switch between them with fuzzy search (rofi/Switcheroo). Then, once usage patterns emerge, you can tile to take advantage of spatial memory.
Example:
- Start i3 in tabbed mode
- Open a window for coding
- Open a browser to search for some coding question. It opens in a new i3 tab, filling the screen like it would in a non-tiling WM
- Open a terminal to try the sample code (new i3 tab)
- Google the error message you get (new i3 tab)
- Use rofi to search for "code" and press Enter. Your coding window tab is activated and the coding window fills the screen
- Realizing the sample code you found would be useful here, along with the test terminal, tile those windows alongside your coding window. Now you can quickly refer to them and switch between them with spatial keybindings
- Switch back to the error message browser using rofi to check something. It's not part of your core workflow right now, so don't worry about tiling it
That's probably obvious to anyone who's used a tiling WM for any length of time, but tiling was daunting to me until it clicked. I spent too much time thinking about optimal window arrangements. Thinking of tiling as an optional finishing touch rather than a focal point made it much more useful/practical.
Example:
- Start i3 in tabbed mode
- Open a window for coding
- Open a browser to search for some coding question. It opens in a new i3 tab, filling the screen like it would in a non-tiling WM
- Open a terminal to try the sample code (new i3 tab)
- Google the error message you get (new i3 tab)
- Use rofi to search for "code" and press Enter. Your coding window tab is activated and the coding window fills the screen
- Realizing the sample code you found would be useful here, along with the test terminal, tile those windows alongside your coding window. Now you can quickly refer to them and switch between them with spatial keybindings
- Switch back to the error message browser using rofi to check something. It's not part of your core workflow right now, so don't worry about tiling it
That's probably obvious to anyone who's used a tiling WM for any length of time, but tiling was daunting to me until it clicked. I spent too much time thinking about optimal window arrangements. Thinking of tiling as an optional finishing touch rather than a focal point made it much more useful/practical.