Editing Windowing system (section)

==Display server==
[[File:Schema of the layers of the graphical user interface.svg|thumb|300px|The basic components of a [[graphical user interface|GUI]]: The '''display server''' implements the windowing system. A simple [[window manager]] merely draws the [[window decoration]]s, but compositing window managers do more.]]

A '''display server''' or '''window server''' is a program whose primary task is to coordinate the input and output of its clients to and from the rest of the operating system, the hardware, and each other. The display server communicates with its clients over the display server protocol, a [[communications protocol]], which can be network-transparent or simply network-capable.

The display server is a key component in any [[graphical user interface]], specifically the windowing system.

The server/client relationship of a standalone display server is somewhat counterintuitive in that a "server" is usually thought of as a large, remote machine, whereas a standalone "display server" is a small local system, with most clients being executed on a larger central machine. The explanation is that a display server provides the ''services'' of a display and input devices.