Coming from FancyZones

Feature map

• FancyZones Hold Shift while dragging to show zones
  PlasmaZones Hold Alt while dragging Drag modifier configurable to Meta, Ctrl+Alt, Alt+Shift, Alt+Meta, or Ctrl+Alt+Meta.
• FancyZones Grid, Columns, Rows, Priority Grid layout presets
  PlasmaZones 26 built-in presets + custom zones drawn freehand Grid, Columns 2/3, Rows 2, Master+Stack, BSP / Fibonacci, Priority Grid, Portrait (5 variants), Superwide (4), Ultrawide (5), Wide, Focus, Split-focus.
• FancyZones Quick-swap layouts via number keys
  PlasmaZones Quick-layout slots bound to Meta+Alt+1 … Meta+Alt+9
• FancyZones Per-monitor layouts
  PlasmaZones Per-monitor and per-virtual-screen layouts You can subdivide a monitor into 2–10 virtual screens, each with its own layout, autotile state, and settings.
• FancyZones Span zones across monitors
  PlasmaZones Zone span across adjacent zones on the same screen The default span modifier is Ctrl+Alt. Crossing a physical-monitor boundary isn't supported, so subdivide the monitor into virtual screens if you need it.
• FancyZones Custom zone colors + opacity
  PlasmaZones Same per-zone colors and opacity, plus optional GLSL shader effects highlightColor, activeOpacity, and inactiveOpacity are per-zone controls just like FancyZones. For more, the overlay runs through a multipass ShaderEffect with 26 bundled presets, or your own GLSL in ~/.local/share/plasmazones/shaders/.
• FancyZones App exclusion list by window class
  PlasmaZones App exclusion by window class, plus minimum-size threshold and per-app floating toggle
• FancyZones App Layouts: assign specific apps to specific zones
  PlasmaZones App-to-zone rules with the same capability under a different name Configured under Settings › App Rules, and matching windows snap on open.
• FancyZones Auto-apply layout to newly-created windows
  PlasmaZones Auto-apply, plus 25 JavaScript autotile algorithms Ships with BSP, Spiral, Master+Stack, Grid, and Monocle among others, and hot-reloads custom ones from ~/.local/share/plasmazones/algorithms/.
• FancyZones Settings UI via PowerToys
  PlasmaZones System Settings › Application Management › PlasmaZones Or open the standalone plasmazones-settings launcher.
• FancyZones No equivalent; Windows' own Snap Assist is a separate OS feature
  PlasmaZones Post-snap zone thumbnails After you drop a window into a zone, empty zones show thumbnails of other windows for a one-click follow-up snap.

What's different

• Optional shader layer Per-zone colors and opacity work the same as FancyZones. The overlay also runs through a multipass GLSL ShaderEffect, with 26 bundled presets including audio-reactive ones and room for custom shaders.
• Scriptable autotile FancyZones auto-applies a layout to new windows. PlasmaZones does the same and adds 25 JavaScript algorithms like BSP, Spiral, Master+Stack, Grid, and Monocle, with hot-reload for custom ones. Off by default.
• Virtual screens Split any physical monitor into up to 10 logical workspaces, each with its own layout, autotile state, and settings. Windows has no equivalent axis.
• Three-file config split Three files live under ~/.config/plasmazones/: config.json for settings, assignments.json for per-screen layouts, and session.json for ephemeral state. Splitting them avoids write contention.
• Wayland-only X11 support was removed in v1.2.0; the layer-shell overlay requires Wayland. XWayland apps still snap, but autotile's drag-insert is flakier there since XWayland emulates input reporting.

Not supported

• Cross-physical-monitor zone span; use a virtual-screen layout on a single monitor instead.
• X11 session; PlasmaZones is Wayland-only as of v1.2.0.
• Per-app "disable snapping for this process" rule, though global class-based exclusion lists cover most of the same need.

Next

• Install → Distro packages and source build.
• First-run tour → From verifying the install to snapping your first window.
• Shortcut reference → Every default binding.
• Troubleshooting → Daemon, logs, support reports.
• D-Bus scripting → Recipes for scripting layouts, snapping, autotile, and settings.