"For the next round of Linux Releases (Ubuntu Gutsy, Fedora 8, OpenSuse 10.3, Mandriva 2008, etc.) Compiz Fusion should be installed by default in those releases and with the release date looming not far ahead the time is ripe to give you a preview of what to expect from the latest Compiz Fusion."
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Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-03-12
"Right, but apart from that: what does it actually do that is useful?"
Provides more screen estate; better navigation between applications; provides accessibility features like creating a more high contrast desktop; Zoom into an object those applications. The power of tabs added to every applications. Better desktop management in a multi-user environment. Attractive working environment. Small applications that report anything from system information to the weather. Better windows management that have only been available within an application ; tile etc. Preview of large application useful for checking whether batch job has finished. Real positive visual feedback to basic windows tasks, for minimize; active application; alerts.
...and this is of the top of my head.
This is ignoring all the potential applications like a *real* desktop analogy; none standard windows. Already applications are coming out that show how photos can be views sorted.
...but the bottom line is why the hell would you not want you windows to fold into a paper airplane and float away; simply because its attractive; fun; and a little exciting which is what computing should be about. If nothing else its looks modern.
Member since:2005-12-15
Member since:2006-11-02
Alt-tabbing between windows is suddenly more useful when you can see what you're alt-tabbing to (Ring Switcher). Expo lets you easily juggle windows around your virtual desktops. And the window tabbing plugin makes it easy to group 20 windows you only use every now and then to 5 windows.
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier."Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently."In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies."The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.
Member since:
2005-07-06
I'm using whatever version is bundled with Gutsy and I have to say, I am in love with its features. My only complaint is the key combinations aren't easily discoverable or documented anywhere - more an Ubuntu fault I think.
The ring switcher, expo and virtual desktop switching effects all get "oohs" and "aaahhs" from casual onlookers. I think Compiz-Fusion will be responsible for a lot of new distribution users, purely because they will want the eye candy... the concerns of apps, data etc will come second to having the cool factor.
Considering it is only a 0.5.x release so far, I'm expecting great things from the project. I hope the Firefox title-bar redraw issues get fixed (well, I actually hope someone makes it easy for amateurs like me to install Epiphany-webkit once it's usable) .... the future is very bright for my beloved laptop