The most apparent distinguishing characteristic of OSF/Motif is its 3-dimensional appearance. The 3-dimensional appearance is achieved through the use of shading, which makes the edges of Motif visual components appear as if they were beveled.
A typical OSF/Motif display is shown below.
In addition to its 3-D appearance, Motif is characterized by its rich set of user interface components, called widgets. Motif widgets provide functionality for the following visual components:
OSF/Motif allows you to modify the appearance and behavior of OSF/Motif applications. For example, you can change the colors and fonts of your own client applications, add menus to the Motif Window Manager, and select the initial window layout at start-up. See Customizing the Motif Window Manager for details about how to modify the appearance and behavior of your Motif environment.
This guide explains OSF/Motif applications, including mwm, in terms of their compliance with the guidelines described in the OSF/Motif Style Guide. This approach allows you to be comfortable with using any OSF/Motif Style Guide compliant application.