Compiz/Beryl- What is it and what can it do?

[JN4OldSchool]

I have to admit, I have been hearing about this project for almost a year and I havent been too enthused. So when FC6 came out I enabled the XGL (also for AIGLX) and compiz. Compiz is a Novell project so naturally SuSE was the first distro to utilize this, but it is also available for Ubuntu now and can be compiled for any distro. I was under the impression that it would only work EASILY under Gnome in FC so I tried it on a Gnome desktop. Well, first off, I really dont like Gnome and Compiz caused funky things to happen. I wasnt impressed at all. A neat toy at best, but of little use right now. But I found out tonight it can be used under KDE just as easily so I enabled it and ironed out my problems. It is growing on me. I am still learning all the tricks, but I can see some usefullness. It is a bit of a resource hog, but I have a great computer so that is not much of a factor.

So what is this Compiz? It is a Window manager. Gnome and KDE are often referred to as window managers, but this is technically wrong. They are desktop environments that run one of any number of window managers. Fluxbox is technically a window manager. Compiz is the first open source 3D window manager. Linux has beaten Windows to the punch. Take that Vista! This is base technology in it's infancy, but it can do some neat things like turn windows transparent on command, organize windows in an Apple like Expose fashion, Alt-tab app switching, the desktop cube, wobbly windows and a million one other hat tricks. For anyone using Linux I give this a thumbs up as a fun app to play with. Maybe not the most functional software yet, but it sure makes one think of the possibilities! Like the movie Minority Report where he is moving the Windows around on the panes of glass...

[STi FlyBy]

Sounds neat ... I'm going to take a look into that when I get the chance :nod:

Thanks, buddy ;)

[acal3000]

I am still in learning process too. Thanks for the info

[JN4OldSchool]

Yeah, the more I play with this the better it gets. You use alt plus the scroll wheel to make the active window transparent. This is so cool because if you are like me and work with 4-5 open windows you can quickly see what is underneath the one you are working in. In Linux you use the terminal a lot, so say I am online for directions but typing in the terminal. I can have the terminal in the front and just make it transparent to read whats on the webpage. Such a time saver! Yes, DIP and ACAL especially, you MUST try this out. I have also changed the top of the cube graphic and the background which is called the skydome is now a picture of my mobo. This is one of those things that on first impression is nothing but eye candy but it is becoming second nature now to use and is very very productive. Same as I never really used the other desktops in Linux till now. But I can spread out on all 4 desktops and reach each one just by clicking on the app in the taskbar. So cool...I can go on for hours about this, but just try it yourselves...

[acal3000]

I downloaded the Mandrive Live Cds anc comes with the AIGLX thing and i saw it there and looks very good I still can't get used to it but looks promising .Make looks Windows Xp ages old

[JN4OldSchool]

I installed and played with Beryl today. Beryl is a fork off Compiz but they should be forked back together in the future. Compiz is the utilitarian version of Beryl. The problem with Compiz is the FC RPM was designed to be run in Gnome. In KDE it gives you a Gnome theme with no way to easily change it. Notice the Window buttons in the screenshots above. Well, Beryl includes a theme manager (emerald) and a nice config tool that adds many many more effects. I hesitated to do this as I thought I would have to compile from source and would run into several issues especially as I have Compiz installed. But it was actually simple, only took about 5 minutes and makes Compiz look like Vista is going to make Win 95 look! I know y'all are sick of seeing my desktop cube and I really want to show off the theme, so here is just a screenshot showing my desktop and also showing off the top window transparancy. Acal, if you need help in installing either Compiz or Beryl just PM me. I can provide easy to follow instructions from the FC forum.

[STi FlyBy]

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/4258/

This is an add-on for FireFox that gives a Compiz-like effect to your browser ... it's kinda neat :p

[acal3000]

I used his in my recently installed mandriva setup. In AIGLX mode works fine but then I used XGL instead and gave me some nasty start up problems I had to disable it and return AIGLX. The curious this ius that I used XGL some months ago on the both lIVe CD of mandriva on the same computer and worked fine i don't know why didn't work anymore

[Aivoton]

That is quite cool.. My laptop lags a bit when i change tabs, but i'll install it on my desktop, it's powerful enough to handle it..