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Some Compiz Fun February 25, 2009

Gnome has been my desktop manager of choice since installing Ubuntu.  Not only was it preinstalled (Kubuntu will provide you with KDE out of the box), but it provides a nice, clean, minimalistic interface, which is a nice getaway from the clutter of a Windows desktop.  However, there are times when I question if I should move over to KDE, not because of the bundled apps, but because of the more flamboyant visual effects.

KDE 4.2

Gnome 2.24

Although KDE has a desktop that is more vibrant, theres a warm fuzzy feeling that you get when you log into a Gnome desktop. The panels are nice and small, the desktop is clean, and nothing is in your way. Logging into KDE I felt a bit overwhelmed. The application menu reminded me a lot like WinVista, the panels were large, and the environment itself just felt a bit sluggish compared to Gnome (mind you im on a quad core pc w/ 4gb ram).

One thing that I admit was nice about KDE however, is the fact that desktop icons are placed in “containers” allowing you to be more organized, but personally I like having 0 icons on my desktop, so it wasn’t something that was to influence my decision on staying with KDE.

Gnome users however, can add a couple tweaks to take advantage of the full fledged graphical features of the environment. Installing a program called Compiz (http://www.compiz-fusion.org/) adds a lot of fun options, one of my favorites being the “cube”. For those of you that havn’t been on a linux box, you have the luxury of having more than one “desktop”. Basically, on the “taskbar” there are icons that allow you to switch between desktops, meaning that you can avoid the clutter of having multiple windows open.

Two Desktops, Each With Its Own Purpose

As you can see from the screen shot above, I have two desktops.  In the example above I have firefox running in one desktop, and a file browser in the other.  This allows me to get work done ( *cough* browse the internet *cough*) while leaving the other desktop for other stuff (i.e. have a music player playing full screen, etc).

Now….back to the cube I started talking about…

Four Desktops In Cube

In the above example, I have four desktops, and by pressing my trusty hot keys (ctrl, alt, and drag the mouse), I am able to rotate my desktops in cube fashion.  It is a spectacular show of eye candy and the wonderful thing is that all the desktops are graphically interactive as seen below

Overlapping Firefox Between Two Desktops

Another thing I really like about the Gnome desktop (this feature is also available in KDE), is the “shade” feature.  If you look at the above screen shot, you can see two horizontal bars above the firefox window.  Those bars are actually my buddy list, as well as an IM, in “shade” mode.  I have set my preference to shade a window when i double click on the title of the window, which essentially shrinks the window so that only the title shows.  This is a great way to quicky free up some desktop space if you need to find something on the desktop.

Compiz features a ton of options, including transparent windows, window effects, desktop effects, etc.  The things that you can do with it are mind blowng.  For those who love the look of KDE, but are more comfortable with Gnome, this is a must have on your Gnome install.