How Many Windows Are There?

The X Window System comes in both proprietary and open source forms. There is a great deal of development in this area, and as more development happens, the better (and easier) working with Unix will become. But don't fearthe current versions of the X Window System happen to be very good and fairly user friendly if you are already familiar with some form of GUI, such as Microsoft Windows.

The X Window System is simply referred to as X. There are also revisions of X, so you will commonly find a number following the X when you see it. Here is an example of the current version of X:

 X11R6.8.2 

Right now, X is at X11, or its 11th major revision. What about the R6? What does that mean? Well, that's easy to explain. The R and the 6 (also known as Rn) indicate the minor revision level. Together, X11 and R6 show current progress as the application develops and grows. In sum, it's just cooler (and easier) to call it X.