Many custom layout managers are available on the Internet. Many of these duplicate the layout behavior of other environments. For example, the FractionalLayout is based on Smalltalk's positioning mechanism; it is located at http://www.mcs.net/~elunt/Java/FractionalLayoutDescription.html. The RelativeLayout allows you to position components relative to others, similar to an X Window form; you can find it at http://www-elec.enst.fr/java/RelativeLayout.java. If you like the way Tcl/Tk arranges widgets, try the PackerLayout; it is available at http://www.geom.umn.edu/~daeron/apps/ui/pack/gui.html. If none of these suit you, you can find a collection of links to custom layout managers at http://www.softbear.com/people/larry/javalm.htm. Gamelan (http://www.gamelan.com/) is always a good source for Java classes; try searching for LayoutManager.