Dapper Drake + Xgl
Buzz
Now that I’ve finally got some spare time, I decided to put Ubuntu Dapper Drake up to the test on my testing machine. I haven’t done it earlier because I’m a little bit paranoid about using unstable versions on production machines (ie, where I get my work done). Likewise, I retracted for some time.. until now.
Claudio’s experience with Xgl and Compiz also pushed me forward so I followed his links. Since I have an ATi X-model (X800GTO) I also had to apply this trick to my xorg.conf so it wouldn’t lock while loading Compiz.
The eyecandy hardcoreSince I own a Mac and I frequently use Mac OS X let me put it pretty simple: XGl + Compiz rocks. Yes, it’s better than Mac OS X eyecandies. Nevertheless, due recognition to the fact that Apple was the first to rise the desktop environment up to this level.
So basically the graphics are so damn cool!
Dapper Drake
Two notes about it: it’s faster (quite faster: boot time has decreased a significant ammount of time) and it has a nicer theme. Still, I don’t get it why they pick Evolution by default instead of Mozilla Thunderbird.
Congratulations to Novell and to the Ubuntu development team! Great work.
“Yes, it’s better than Mac OS X eyecandies.”
I don’t know what you are smoking, but I want some…
The wobbly effect while moving windows is interesting, the cube rotation while switching between virtual desktops has a “cube goes a bit too far and then comes back into position” effect which is nice, but the eye-candy in MacOS X still wins, hands down.
The effects in MacOS X are more subtle and less intrusive. Subtle is good because it gives the user a warm fuzzy feeling, like the effects are just a plus on an overall great system, and not some kind of lipstick on a turd; and as for “less intrusive”…
- popup dialogs that “slide” into place: nice;
- wobbly windows that turn the simple task of placing a window exacly where one wants it a nightmare: *not* nice;
Of course the Mac also has a couple of obnoxious effects… like the zooming on the dock, which (like Xgl) have great demo value, but absolute zero usefulness (actually negative usefulness).
Completly backing up Carlos Rodrigues. Every time who want to use a pull down list, it pops up.
Pull down list, not pop up list.
Meaning, yes, too much intrusion. But very good potencial too.
Carlos,
Don’t know about you, but I use Mac OS X daily so I have pretty good experience with it. And, in my point of view, Xgl/Compiz effects is far from being behind Mac OS X.
Some of the effects are for testing purposes and are not intended to be shipped with Compiz 1.0 (current version: 0.1). Novell’s intent is to find out some new cool effects that can also contribute to usability (besides the obvious show off).
So, yes, they’re doing a great job. Compiz is currently on version 0.1 and except some bugs the overall feeling is better than Mac OS X.
“Some of the effects are for testing purposes and are not intended to be shipped with Compiz 1.0 (current version: 0.1). Novell’s intent is to find out some new cool effects that can also contribute to usability (besides the obvious show off).”
Pardon me for being skeptical, but in all these years running Linux I’m still to see usable eye-candy. No, it will only become worse, and you can quote me on that…
In the Linux world “usability” is as foreign a concept as legs to a snake. They will not remove their precious effects, they will only add some checkboxes where the user can turn them off (thus claiming to be offering “choice” - which is called “dumping the decisions on the user” where I’m from).
LOL!!! “dumping the decisions on the userâ€? -> Very true. I’d rather have a usable system than an über geek system. Option is good, good defaults are the best. (Think Rails).
But i guess Carlos Rodrigues is pointing out something really interesting:
“They will not remove their precious effects”: OSS developer over-value their own work. Well, it’s theirs, after all. And you should avoid facing them with not so pleasant choices, like taking that annoying feature off. If you try, they shall start the mighty legend of flame wars all over you.
“dumping the decisions on the userâ€?: there are lots of stuff that are just “code brag-about”. Like the damned bouncing icon in KDE. Anyone using KDE more than 5 minutes will disable it. This should never be implemented (Why not documenting stuff instead of doing pointless code?). However, in order not to turn the DE unusable, they “make it optional”, but leave it on by default.
Here, I’m in favor, once again, of good default standards. But never ending up like bash or zsh, who have fabulous features but, for some reason, they are not enabled, some not even documented.