Sometimes, I do miss windows. Eyecandy lovers look in here.

[MetalMusicAddict]

Let me adjust the title. "Sometimes I do miss apps on windows." :)

One of the 1st communities I became involved with was Aqua-Soft (http://www.aqua-soft.org). A Mac emulating community. Over the years I got out of that whole "I wanna make my windows box look like a mac" phase and just stayed for the cool apps that sprung up. AveDesk by AndreasV is one of those.

AveDesk is a widget app much like gdesklets but much more powerful IMHO. Heres (http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/sucky.avi) a .avi preview of the "suck away" effect in the upcomming 1.3 release.
http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/sucky_effect_preview1.png CLICK ME (http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/clip0026.avi)

Heres (http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/showthread.php?t=23384) a link to the 1.2 release to see more info. DockEx (http://www.dockex.com) and Aqua-Soft (http://www.aqua-soft.org) have many widgets to download.

I really wish stuff like this was on linux. Is the framework there? Is it even possiable now? Will we have to wait for Gnomes xcompmanager? All questions Im really wondering about. Its not a rant. ;)

Some people really dont like eye-candy. I dont see the point in having these powerful PC nowadays if they cant be fun. :)

[bored2k]

Some people really dont like eye-candy. I dont see the point in having these powerful PC nowadays if they cant be fun. :)
Why buy powerful computers when you're downgrading the performance by using power-hungry applications that aren't "that" useful (same applies to buying a powerbox and installing Norton in it) ? That's my mentality. Not that I don't like eye candy, it's just that I have not found one that made me think about forgotting performance just to get it. So why do we get power boxes ? Rapid dvd authoring, avi-dvd conversions, multi-tasking, Azureus (:roll:). BTW, that "suck" thing looks mighty slow enough to make mad. Exposé is cute (Mac), Kompose is superb (KDE). Not a rant either ;).

[poofyhairguy]

I really wish stuff like this was on linux. Is the framework there?

yep....enlightenment is great.



Is it even possiable now?

That effect? no. Eye candy...YES!!!



Will we have to wait for Gnomes xcompmanager?

For stable, out of the box, easy to use eye candy....yes. But for nerds, its already there.



Some people really dont like eye-candy. I dont see the point in having these powerful PC nowadays if they cant be fun. :)

It doesn't add to the bottom line (except for Apple's). Linux is big about adding to the bottom line.

[polo_step]

Some people really dont like eye-candy. I dont see the point in having these powerful PC nowadays if they cant be fun. :)
I don't see the point of having these powerful PCs if the applications don't work.

But that's just me, I guess. :wink:

As a BFA, I have to say most "eye candy" is more like a poke in the eye with a dirty stick. For aesthetic purposes, good visual ergonomics is still first, and layout composition and color choice where style really resides. I don't want any animation anywhere on my computer.

[benplaut]

i'm OK with eye candy (or kandy, for you kubuntu users :P) as long as it isn't an animation that i can't do something while it's going.

for example, the "genie" effect in Mac OS/X looks nice, but i'd much rather prefer the window just be gone instantly.

the kind that i do like is transparency, and anything that makes it look smoother... like a cool looking theme that matches with a good looking Metacity theme, and good icons and background to go with it.

my graphics card is quite good for sitting around doing nothing, so i have to stick with 2D stuff :mad:

[electrosoccertux]

I don't see the point of having these powerful PCs if the applications don't work.

But that's just me, I guess. :wink:

As a BFA, I have to say most "eye candy" is more like a poke in the eye with a dirty stick. For aesthetic purposes, good visual ergonomics is still first, and layout composition and color choice where style really resides. I don't want any animation anywhere on my computer.

Even if eye candy decreases efficiency as in time worked, if it makes the user's experience more exciting/fun/appealing/soothing, then that can lower the stress level and increase the productivity level of the user.

[jnoreiko]

CLICK ME (http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/clip0026.avi)

Totem wouldn't play that.

[MetalMusicAddict]

Why buy powerful computers when you're downgrading the performance by using power-hungry applications that aren't "that" useful (same applies to buying a powerbox and installing Norton in it) ? That's my mentality. Not that I don't like eye candy, it's just that I have not found one that made me think about forgotting performance just to get it. So why do we get power boxes ? Rapid dvd authoring, avi-dvd conversions, multi-tasking, Azureus (:roll:). BTW, that "suck" thing looks mighty slow enough to make mad. Exposé is cute (Mac), Kompose is superb (KDE). Not a rant either ;).

Its kinda funny now I have 6 computers in the house all way stripped down OS's and purpose built. My everyday PC in now my laptop which is where I want the pretty stuff. I dont do tons of intensive work on it so I have plenty of room to spare in terms of resources.

My desktop, where I do my media creation (DVDs, DivX, Photoshop, Music recording/editing, some games) is also very stripped down. I even have a batch file I run before I do DivX movies to kill EVERYTHING not needed.

So why arent effects like this possiable in linux (GDE) now? Im looking to technical reasons. :)


Totem wouldn't play that.
Sorry, It plays w/Mplayer by default for me. Its a little DivX vid.

[polo_step]

Even if eye candy decreases efficiency as in time worked, if it makes the user's experience more exciting/fun/appealing/soothing, then that can lower the stress level and increase the productivity level of the user.
That's my point: It's just a geeky irritant.

A good example is the default fade-in/out-on-execution icon "feature" on XPSP2. The "eyecandy" effect creates the annoying illusion that the activity is slower in running (it might actually be for all I know). If I were spending more time in XP, I'd find a way to turn it off ASAP.

In any case, does any psychologically-mature adult find an animated process entertaining or otherwise worthwhile after seeing it a few times? I doubt it.

Visual simplicity and graceful layout is the keystone of "expensive" design in the real world.

The problem is that computer stuff is still designed by and largely for geeks, or has to be signed off on by geek management even if the project was outsourced to humans. Geeks by definition are smart but immature people with retarded aesthetic sense -- not the people I want designing something I have to look at all the time.

My original point was that wasting time on designing this worthless junk is doubly obscene with the appallingly low functionality of Linux applications and drivers.

If geeks want to do something, attend to getting Linux working, something they're presumably equipped to do...though I have my doubts.

Otherwise, it's just, "My printer won't work, yeah, but look at that little squirrel that jumps up and down in the error window! He-he. He-he."

[MetalMusicAddict]

If geeks want to do something, attend to getting Linux working, something they're presumably equipped to do...though I have my doubts.
I wish this was something that more hardware manufactures did not just left to "DIY". Though nVidia seemes to be quite good with this. :)

Otherwise, it's just, "My printer won't work, yeah, but look at that little squirrel that jumps up and down in the error window! He-he. He-he."

It there to distract you from the fact thet you printer wont work. :) Or my scanner. :(

Part of the reason for starting this thread was to find out some technical reasons why these kinds of things werent/cant be done and maybe whats on the horizon.
Not bashing just wondering. :)

Anyone know of cool upcomming eye-candy projects? I know about E17. Any updates on that?

[qalimas]

KDE's eye candy is perfect for me, I never miss Windows'. ;)

[polo_step]

It there to distract you from the fact thet you printer wont work. :) Or my scanner.
Distraction isn't possible for someone with a real job who needs to get the task at hand done.

But you're right about manufacturers needing to do their own Linux drivers that actually work. I don't see this happening on a large scale in my lifetime.

What bothers me is that there are awful drivers included in the kernel as if they actually work, when even their own authors say they aren't reliably functional. You have to wonder what that's all about. You go out and buy "supported" hardware only to find out that it won't run properly.

[poofyhairguy]

Anyone know of cool upcomming eye-candy projects? I know about E17. Any updates on that?

Here is some neat eye candy:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=287220#post287220

[professor_chaos]

Why buy powerful computers when you're downgrading the performance by using power-hungry applications that aren't "that" useful (same applies to buying a powerbox and installing Norton in it) ? That's my mentality. Not that I don't like eye candy, it's just that I have not found one that made me think about forgotting performance just to get it. So why do we get power boxes ? Rapid dvd authoring, avi-dvd conversions, multi-tasking, Azureus (:roll:). BTW, that "suck" thing looks mighty slow enough to make mad. Exposé is cute (Mac), Kompose is superb (KDE). Not a rant either ;).

I agree. No good reason to counteract the increase perfomance of newer computers with more demanding processes that do the same thing just in a fancier way (unless it actually improves function).
For a basic example, the mouse is good at doing somethings quickly in a graphical operating system and can execute some processes faster than from the command line. For me it boils down to the most productive functional interface possible. Anything else is candy(kandy), and I already have too many cavities.

[drizek]

KDE's eye candy is perfect for me, I never miss Windows'. ;)
same here. kde kicks ass, i dont care what you say. it looks a million times better than windows, is faster and easier to customize. i dont see why anyone would miss windows simply based on its butt-ugly looks. even when you spend hours and hours hacking the thing to death trying to get it to look the way you want, it still has that "crap" look to it.

anyway, it is possible to have all this stuff in there the same way its done in windows. it will have to be cpu accelerated and that kills performance. if youve ever used superkaramba, you would know that it is very possible to create cool animations like this. always in moderation though. it is pointless however because superkaramba themes arent being opened and closed constantly. making an animation for it is a waste of time.

im really looking forward to kde 4 though. as cool as 3.4 is, it could still use a lot of work. kde 4 is going to look better, but improve usablity by a gajillion times.

[MetalMusicAddict]

Lots of people say "I dont wanna take a preformance hit" but PCs are so beefy now I say thats its a negledgable hit. That is if your PC is current.

My everyday PC is a Dell laptop. I run Ubuntu on that. Its not a fire-breather but its plenty to have some nice stuff on screen. :) God, my CPU and MEM usuage barely spike. Gotta do something with it. ;)

If Im doing any kind of media encoding/editing/creating I do that on my VERY stripped down XP desktop. There I wanna eak out every bit of power I can.

Can a programmer tell me if its eaiser on windows to do this now?