It's such a shame I always feel the need to turn off Compiz ._.

[hoppipolla]

It's not that I don't like it or anything.. it's just that everything seems to work so much better on Gnome with it off! lol

When I have Compiz on, I can't select the dropdown menus as usual, a bunch of stuff doesn't work properly... I don't know... everything is just more complicated and unpredictable!

Don't get me wrong I used to love it, but when you want a machine that just works so you can get on with something, it does get in the way a bit.

Personally, KDE fanboy or not I really think that Kwin is the way forward. It's simple, well-integrated, will become probably quite easy to set up and will flow better with the desktop. I love effects, but I'm not willing to compromise too much usability for them anymore as sometimes there are just things you want to really DO on an OS... you know? lol :)

Sorry, this was kind of meant as a constructive rant! rofl xD

It would be cool to hear opinions!

Peace ^_^

Hoppi :)

[ChrT]

Waste of resources.

[doas777]

I like compiz, but it does have some issues (which affect some use-cases more than others). I salute you on posing your conundrum without ranting about it being "stupid" as so many have done before. you have my sympathies.

cheers.

[Sashin]

Its not a waste of resources if it enhances the user experience.

[ChrT]

Its not a waste of resources if it enhances the user experience.

What you consider enchancing the user experience, many people will consider annoying. I don't want my desktop on a cube, I don't want my windows wobbly, I don't want anything to be transparent, I don't want my windows to cast shadows, and I certainly don't want any distracting animations.

[hoppipolla]

Its not a waste of resources if it enhances the user experience.

It's not really the resources that I have a problem with (it actually requires very little for what it does) it's the little niggles and complications, and little bugs, and the overly complex settings... Kwin I think is/will be much smoother :)

[lethalfang]

What you consider enchancing the user experience, many people will consider annoying. I don't want my desktop on a cube, I don't want my windows wobbly, I don't want anything to be transparent, I don't want my windows to cast shadows, and I certainly don't want any distracting animations.

... but I'd like to drag windows across multiple desktops.... pretty much the only feature I use regularly, but I find it very convenient.

[HermanAB]

The gee whizz effects were nice for about 5 minutes, a few years ago...

[hoppipolla]

Guys, guys this is all REALLY subjective.

Bugs and actual problems with software though are not.

[hessiess]

Its a waste of resources and floating window managers in general are inefficient, Tiling WM's are the way forwards.

[ChrT]

Its a waste of resources and floating window managers in general are inefficient, Tiling WM's are the way forwards.

This man speaks the truth.

[SomeGuyDude]

Waste of resources.

$10 says my Compiz desktop uses fewer resources than a GNOME/KDE/XFCE one. :lolflag:

[ChrT]

$10 says my Compiz desktop uses fewer resources than a GNOME/KDE/XFCE one. :lolflag:

And an equally superficial and unrealistic bet says my awesome window manager uses fewer resources than your compiz desktop.

[Keyper7]

I can't remember the last time I experienced an annoying Compiz bug. It's been a smooth and bug-free experience for me since Hardy. It sits confortably at 30-35Mb of RAM, has the performance of a lightsaber cutting butter and gives things that nowadays I wouldn't live without (ex: scale plugin and expo plugin).

I do agree, however, that KWin offers a smoother experience for being more integrated into KDE. For KDE, effects are simply a feature that can be easily disabled. For Gnome, compiz is a whole alternative window manager, meaning enabling/disabling the effects is a very abrupt change.

[SomeGuyDude]

And an equally superficial and unrealistic bet says my awesome window manager uses fewer resources than your compiz desktop.

By little if anything substantial. On a machine built after 2006, sitting with 300MB out of 2GB of RAM in use (integrated video card, it'd be far less if separate) and a whopping 6% of my CPU being taken up, I fail to see how it's a "waste of resources".

Point is Compiz is far from "heavy". GNOME is heavy. KDE is heavy. Compiz is light.

[Keyper7]

By little if anything substantial. On a machine built after 2006, sitting with 300MB out of 2GB of RAM in use (integrated video card, it'd be far less if separate) and a whopping 6% of my CPU being taken up, I fail to see how it's a "waste of resources".

Point is Compiz is far from "heavy". GNOME is heavy. KDE is heavy. Compiz is light.

Hold on, compare apples to apples. Gnome and KDE are desktop environments. Metacity and KWin are their respective window managers, that's what Compiz should be compared with.

[hanzomon4]

It's not that I don't like it or anything.. it's just that everything seems to work so much better on Gnome with it off! lol

When I have Compiz on, I can't select the dropdown menus as usual, a bunch of stuff doesn't work properly... I don't know... everything is just more complicated and unpredictable!

Don't get me wrong I used to love it, but when you want a machine that just works so you can get on with something, it does get in the way a bit.

Personally, KDE fanboy or not I really think that Kwin is the way forward. It's simple, well-integrated, will become probably quite easy to set up and will flow better with the desktop. I love effects, but I'm not willing to compromise too much usability for them anymore as sometimes there are just things you want to really DO on an OS... you know? lol :)

Sorry, this was kind of meant as a constructive rant! rofl xD

It would be cool to hear opinions!

Peace ^_^

Hoppi :)

Wow really? I haven't had bugs with compiz since... I don't remember.

[SomeGuyDude]

Hold on, compare apples to apples. Gnome and KDE are desktop environments. Metacity and KWin are their respective window managers, that's what Compiz should be compared with.

Yeah but you can't run Metacity or KWin solo (to my knowledge). You CAN, however, run Compiz solo a la Openbox or Awesome, which puts it into the DE/WM category and can be compared, from a resource perspective, to GNOME in the same way Fluxbox could. And, gasp, its added strain on the machine is pretty minimal. I only disable it when I'm on battery power so I can squeeze an extra 15-20 minutes out of my battery.

I've been using Compiz as my WM for a while with brief spats to Openbox when my Intel video drives acts up and it is Light And Snappy. Compared to OPENBOX, Compiz is barely heavier.

[hoppipolla]

This is not my original point ._.


EDIT -- Sorry, that's rude, I don't mind the thread digressing and stuff :) It's just that, all this stuff is so subjective. Some people like it, some people don't. Why can't we just leave it at that?

[SomeGuyDude]

Well, on the original point, I admit I've never had any real issue with Compiz that wasn't the fault of my video driver, but I'd still pick a slightly buggy Compiz over a perfectly working KDE.

Computer usage is a balance of many things: productivity, aesthetics, and functionality amongst them. I'll sacrifice aesthetics if it means a boost in functionality, but KDE takes me so far in the wrong direction on productivity that I'd happily stick with Compiz over it.

[hoppipolla]

Computer usage is a balance of many things: productivity, aesthetics.

It is, but remember that the balance differs depending on the person, and different things appeal to different people :)

I think KDE is the best desktop ever made, but not everyone agrees with that notion! lol :)

[Keyper7]

This is not my original point ._.


EDIT -- Sorry, that's rude, I don't mind the thread digressing and stuff :) It's just that, all this stuff is so subjective. Some people like it, some people don't. Why can't we just leave it at that?

Hey, I did stay on topic on my first post... ;)

[steev182]

And an equally superficial and unrealistic bet says my awesome window manager uses fewer resources than your compiz desktop.

And $10 says my dad's bigger than your dad!

This is playground stuff lads...

Saying Compiz is a complete waste of resources is wrong, but in its standard guise in ubuntu, it is a waste of resources for what it does.

No, I do not want wobbly windows.

However, I do want it to perform some actions that I became used to through using OSX.

I really find that Expose - Scale in compiz and Spaces - Expo in compiz are useful features for a desktop pc, but that's about it.

[Ric_NYC]

I turned it off.
I have no use for wobbling windows.

I wish I could play hd flash videos with good performance.

[SomeGuyDude]

I turned it off.
I have no use for wobbling windows.

I wish I could play hd flash videos with good performance.

You do realize Compiz has about 78 plugins, 77 of which aren't wobbly windows, right?

Seriously, I'm amazed by the fact that every single anti-compiz post either mentions wobbly windows or the cube. As though the wall, expo, scale, ring switcher, zoom, and the oodles of other features don't exist and ALL it does is make wobbly windows.

Besides, the ability to use transparency on a whim (I have "move window" set to 75% opacity so I can just click on a titlebar and see what's under it) is AWESOME.

[ChrT]

Besides, the ability to use transparency on a whim (I have "move window" set to 75% opacity so I can just click on a titlebar and see what's under it) is AWESOME.

Useless in a tiling window manager.


... but I'd like to drag windows across multiple desktops.... pretty much the only feature I use regularly, but I find it very convenient.

Equally useless, as doing so with a single keybind (say, mod4+tag number) requires less effort and doesn't force you to stop focusing on the active window by using the mouse.

[purgatori]

It's such a shame that I always feel the need to use a tiling wm :P

[blur xc]

It's not that I don't like it or anything.. it's just that everything seems to work so much better on Gnome with it off! lol

When I have Compiz on, I can't select the dropdown menus as usual, a bunch of stuff doesn't work properly... I don't know... everything is just more complicated and unpredictable!

Don't get me wrong I used to love it, but when you want a machine that just works so you can get on with something, it does get in the way a bit.

Personally, KDE fanboy or not I really think that Kwin is the way forward. It's simple, well-integrated, will become probably quite easy to set up and will flow better with the desktop. I love effects, but I'm not willing to compromise too much usability for them anymore as sometimes there are just things you want to really DO on an OS... you know? lol :)

Sorry, this was kind of meant as a constructive rant! rofl xD

It would be cool to hear opinions!

Peace ^_^

Hoppi :)

Don't blame compiz because your hardware isn't up to snuff. Works 100% a-ok on my system, though I did find out a way to consistently crash it... If your computer can't take the heat- uh... dunno where to go with that one...

And tiling wm aren't the end all. I like working w/ full screen apps. Lots of maximized windows (or almost maximized) and there's no more efficient way to switch between open windows than the scale plugin. But, if you only work in small terminal widows, text editors, and the such- yeah, then knock your self out w/ your tiling wm..

BM

[hoppipolla]

It's such a shame that I always feel the need to use a tiling wm :P

Owh ._. lol

I still have to try one!

It's just... I like my friendly GUIs! With pretty colours and... yeah :)

[blur xc]

I wish I could play hd flash videos with good performance.

I play full screen hd videos perfectly on my system.

I have a modest nvidia video card, cost some $90, which I purchased under the recommendation of a friend who I consulted about what to buy when I built my pc, w/ running Linux in mind.

BM

[hoppipolla]

Don't blame compiz because your hardware isn't up to snuff. Works 100% a-ok on my system, though I did find out a way to consistently crash it... If your computer can't take the heat- uh... dunno where to go with that one...

Hey that's quite an assumption to jump to! I have a very reasonable little computer! lol

I mean, who knows, maybe a lot of the problems I talk about have been fixed since I last properly sat down with Compiz, which in honesty was around... maybe even a year ago! I used to have problems with movie playback sometimes and bit and pieces like that, and had to drop back to metacity or Kwin.

In fact the biggest niggling problem I had this time was the way it changed the way the Gnome dropdown menus were selected, so I find I have to click them much more accurately before they trigger, as opposed to just the corner of the screen or whatever :)

I really don't know why o.O

[blur xc]

Hey that's quite an assumption to jump to! I have a very reasonable little computer! lol

I know, I considered putting a :P after making that statement- dunno why I didn't...

I'm just quite happy with my hardware's Linux compatibility. Everything (except my stupid canon printer) work wonderfully.

BM

[northwestuntu]

i use to love compiz, but with it changing all the time i stopped using it because it seemed unstable.

i wish gnome could do something like that.

[Keyper7]

I mean, who knows, maybe a lot of the problems I talk about have been fixed since I last properly sat down with Compiz, which in honesty was around... maybe even a year ago!

Dude, seriously?

One year ago, Hardy was the latest release and Gutsy, the previous release, was the first one having compiz-fusion by default.

Things have obviously improved since then. Both upstream and in Ubuntu.

(though I don't remember having issues even with Hardy)

[hoppipolla]

Dude, seriously?

One year ago, Hardy was the latest release and Gutsy, the previous release, was the first one having compiz-fusion by default.

Things have obviously improved since then. Both upstream and in Ubuntu.

(though I don't remember having issues even with Hardy)

Yeah but I've been playing around with Compiz for years, even back when it was Beryl and even back before Beryl surfaced! There have always been problems :(

It's awesome, don't get me wrong, and I would use it if it wasn't for the dropdowns thing... maybe I should work on getting that fixed...

[The Real Dave]

My main rig is an Acer Aspire T650 from 06, as below, and after upgrading the RAM, I've had no problems with Compiz. Back in the days when I only had 384Mb, running full effects was do-able, but not livable. Normal sufficed. Another gb later, and things run fine, with plenty of effects on.

As for resource wasting, I don't think I'd agree with that. Dual, or Quad core rigs, the average user as resources a plenty to waste, so why not use them on making things look, and feel better? I've only a 3Ghz PIV, with like a 300Mhz GPU, with no GRAM. If my system can handle compiz, newer ones will have no trouble.

Compiz is fairly essential for me when I'm working hard, though I use 6 workspaces, being able to group and tab windows is a life saver. It just makes things easier. Expo is fairly handy too, step back and get a good look :lolflag: