Saturday, December 26, 2009

compiz

I was introduced to compiz from my buddy at work before Christmas vacation. It looked really cool and he was kind enough to instruct me how to install it.

What is compiz?
Compiz is one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. The effects, such as a minimization effect and a cube workspace are implemented as loadable plugins. Because it conforms to the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual standard, Compiz can substitute for the default Metacity in GNOME or KWin in KDE.

How to install it?
To install from terminal:

sudo apt-get install compiz compizconfig-settings-manager

To make active for the current session without having to reboot:
press Cntl-F2 and type

compiz --replace

It may take a moment, but all will be well. To activate the side-by-side flat display, hold Alt+Cntrl and press the down arrow key.

I'm still getting used to it, but I like it! Special thanks to my buddy Ray for the tip and the help.

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