A free display server for your Windows PC

Xming is a leading display server for Windows computers. This is a public domain software program useable by anyone from around the world. It works as a stand-alone, efficient, and fully-functional Windows application, needing no third-party emulator. The program has been in circulation since 2007 and is free of cost. 

While the tool receives occasional updates, you’ll have to tweak certain settings manually to make it work with the latest version of Windows.

Various tools, support for multiple languages, and more

With Xming download, your computer’s X Windows System Display Server gets a range of sample X applications and tools, including traditional software. Additionally, the program gives the display a new set of fonts, making the on-screen text more appealing. The server supports various languages, and offers support for Mesa 3D capabilities, OpenGL, and GLX 3D extensions.

Just like PuTTY, MobaXterm, and XShell, Xming can run SSH securely and safely to forward X11 sessions. It’s worth mentioning that the display server comes with a MinGW compiler suite. You can cross-compile on Linux systems. The program also features the renowned multi-threading, Pthreads – Win32 library.

What are the features?

Xming offers a functional yet minimal X11 server for Windows-specific environments. With this feature, users are able to take advantage of a range of graphical apps in a remote workstation. Most importantly, there’s no need to devote a huge amount of hard drive space to the process. Unlike Cygwin/X, this Windows display server doesn’t rely on the famous Cygwin environment. 

As mentioned earlier, Xming offers support for multiple languages and comes with GLX 3D graphics, OpenGL, and Mesa 3D extension capabilities. It’s important to understand that the Xming X server is based on Cygwin/X, or the X.Org Server. Since it’s cross-compiled on Pthreads – Win 32 library and MinGW compiler suite, the program runs natively on Microsoft Windows and doesn’t require third-party emulator tools.

The X11 or the X Windows System, also informally called X-Windows, is the system-level, well-defined, and hassle-free software infrastructure for GUI on BSD, Linux, and several UNIX-like operating systems. The display server has been designed to manage both local and network-sent exhibits.

How to use Xming?

When you run the application, Xming instantly launches the X Windows Server. It waits for different apps to be added to the system’s X desktop. Xlaunch proves to be a convenient and fast medium to start apps. It comes included within the Xming download package. Xlaunch takes a Wizard-style approach to start running programs on the X desktop.

To customize the program’s display settings, you can click the designated radio buttons. It’s possible to choose from four different options and set parameters accordingly. Once you’re done, the program gives some choices when selecting the application as a simple desktop or opening a client running on the X desktop. While the default option opens just the desktop, it leaves inexperienced users in the dark about features, functionalities, and usage.

The lack of a comprehensive ‘Help’ file is a major drawback for the popular Windows System Display Server. There are also a few minor problems when you open the program with a client running on the system. At times, this option doesn’t properly work, and the PC might experience lags or crashes.

The ‘Help’ section in Xlaunch gives a short description of a configuration file. If you don’t have much experience with display servers, this won’t offer any help. You’ll have to manually look for detailed forums or ‘Help’ files on the internet. The steps in the wizard try to shed some light on the features, but there isn’t any comprehensive value.

Having said that, Xming is aimed at experienced programmers who already have an idea about using Windows display servers. Although it has a steep learning curve, the program works well with Windows PCs.  To use the application properly, you need to search and download compatible configuration files, aide programs, and help manuals. 

In the native state, Xming is only useful for programmers with rich experience in working with Windows display servers. Since you don’t need to spend any money on the program, there’s no harm in spending some time trying to learn the tricks of the trade. Xming is the perfect choice for using the implementations of SSH or Secure Shell to forward X11 sessions.

The program fortifies SSH.EXE and PuTTY, and comes with a dedicated version of PLINK.EXE. Additionally, the project offers a portable version of the program, which can be carried in a USB flash drive, and doesn’t need installation. It’s the perfect way to access Xming on multiple devices.

Is Xming a good choice?

Over the years, software engineers, authors of IT books, and other professionals in the industry have recommended Xming. It’s a simple yet comprehensive tool, acting as a full-fledged Windows Display Server for your PC. While Xming comes with fewer configuration options than Cygwin/X, the program delivers perfect implementation of network protocol and software system to offer a substructure for high-quality GUIs on networked computers.

A reliable and trustworthy choice for Windows PCs

While Xming X Server is based on the famous Cygwin/X, the main difference is the lack of configurable options. However, the program is free to use, and compared to Cygwin/X, can be installed easily on your Windows PC. If you want to update the program yourself, you’ll be able to choose from multiple options. Since this Windows System Display Server is a public domain software, you don’t need to pay a fee or purchase a subscription. You just download, install, and get started.