A.2.4 Workspace Properties

In prior versions of OpenWindows (before version 3.3), a change made in the Workspace Properties menu would be stored in the file .Xdefaults in your home directory. In OpenWindows version 3.3, and later versions, changes made in the Workspace Properties menu are now stored in the file .OWdefaults, also in your home directory. The .Xdefaults file can still exist, but precedence is given to the customizations made in .OWdefaults.

The .Xdefaults file should be used only to make additional customization changes that cannot be made through Workspace Properties. For example, you can edit the .Xdefaults file using a text editor such as vi to make customizations to non-OpenWindows applications or to add C pre-processor macros. Using Workspace Properties does not disturb these customizations.

If you already have a .Xdefaults file in your home directory and you do not want to make any customization changes to it, you do not need to remove it. Since the .OWdefaults file takes precedence over it, it does not interfere.