Daniel Nouri's Old Blog

A feature that I missed in Metacity (the default Window Manager of GNOME nowadays) since my old FVWM days is focus follows mouse. This is easily configured in Metacity as I found out today:

gconf-editor /apps/metacity/general/focus_mode

Set this to sloppy and your windows are focused whenever your mouse enters them.

While you're at it, you might want to also check auto_raise and set auto_raise_delay to 0, so that the focused windows raise to the front.

Update: Jasper just tells me that you can configure the same by going to System -> Preferences -> Windows in the Gnome menu.