[beautron]

For me, it's less that I want to "tile" windows, than that I want whichever one I'm using to be fullscreen and distraction-free.

I don't like visual clutter. If I'm using a program, I want it to be the only thing on my monitor. But sometimes I want to keep more than one program open, or even be switching between them. Tiling window managers let me give each program its own full screen, and quickly switch between them with a keyboard command. I love it.

And then there's the exception that proves the rule: Sometimes I do want to have two programs on the same screen, side-by-side. An example would be Vim in the left 2/3rds of my screen (where I am programming), and then a browser with some documentation on the right 1/3rd. Obviously tiling managers also support this case, and I prefer them here too vs. mousing around windows into place (which still tends to leave behind windowing chrome and other visual clutter).

That reminds me of another reason: I prefer keyboard to mouse. I've learned good form and technique for keyboard use, which let me use it frequently and for long periods while avoiding injury. But I just can't figure out a way to use a mouse or trackpad that isn't harmful, were it repeated enough (a vertical mouse goes a long way though).

Tiling managers let me do everything using keyboard (unless the "tiled" programs themselves require mouse), whereas traditional windowing managers pretty much require mouse. I find it both more ergonomic and much faster using the keyboard.