Speaking of Desktops

[Justin Dugger]

> I receive around 60 fps using beryl but not using its "enhancements",
> and I receive from 15 to 30 fps when using the "enhancements"; the
> thing is i do not notice the change (except for using certain
> features)

I've been working with Ubuntu 7.10 recently and compiz-fusion is far
better than Beryl as represented in 7.04.  The Fire plugin no longer
crashes things, and the organization of plugin packages is smarter,
with a hierarchy of quality and reliability.  Fire effects on a
fullscreen window still harm performance, but this can be worked
around with saner defaults (fewer particles).  That Compiz Fusion is
generally better than Beryl should make sense -- it's essentially the
latest version of Beryl (which is still maintained for posterity's
sake).  From a stability standpoint, the software itself hasn't been a
problem.  Customization can be troubling, as something (probably CCSM)
loses settings in gconf, and I haven't pinpointed when that occurs.  I
generally receive 60 fps excepting the aforementioned fire effect.
Specs:
Toshiba Tecra M7
Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz
1GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M
Ubuntu 7.10

To me, the bigger point is the little details in usability. The
default application switcher will zoom out the entire desktop.  If
you're using a fullscreen window of firefox, this becomes visually
weird, as in certain instances, only the menu bar zooms out.  Ideally,
a filter should be done to only zoom away program windows, and not
gnome-panel and the desktop. But in the meantime, turning zoom off
completely exposes a flicker bug in the switcher.  That turns what
would otherwise be a visually neat feature into a visual annoyance.  I
can point out several other similar flaws, but my point is that
desktop usability is about attention to minor details, and it doesn't
appear that anyone's paying attention to them.

Compiz is great for a technology preview, and highly impressive to
bystanders and people sitting behind you in class / meetings, but I
think if Ubuntu really wants to deploy compiz by default, someone
needs to step up and pay attention to those details.  The Technical
Board takes the opposite viewpoint, that until they ship by default
nobody will pay attention to details large or small, and I guess
that's the definition of a community distribution.

Justin Dugger