Compiz - does it have a purpose?

[Zill]

Never having had a PC with a spec good enough to run clever stuff like Compiz, I am wondering what the point of this app is.

I know you can show your desktops on a cube and then rotate it, along with other tricks such as transparency, but how does this actually improve productivity? I find the standard multiple desktops invaluable but cannot see any advantage with the cube system.

Are there any real advantages with Compiz, or is it just more eye-candy bloatware to slow the PC down - something we despise about Windows!

[kenono]

Some of the things are useful, although, personally I don't use many of them at all.

If you use multiple desktops, then you could find the cube effect useful as well as pretty cool.

The scale feature is like the macs, and I use this quite a bit.

I don't hate windows for it's bloating eye candy, I don't even hate windows at all but compiz shows that Linux isn't ugly as some people presume and that it can be made to look better than OSX with the right settings.

[koleoptero]

Never having had a PC with a spec good enough to run clever stuff like Compiz, I am wondering what the point of this app is.

I know you can show your desktops on a cube and then rotate it, along with other tricks such as transparency, but how does this actually improve productivity? I find the standard multiple desktops invaluable but cannot see any advantage with the cube system.

Are there any real advantages with Compiz, or is it just more eye-candy bloatware to slow the PC down - the very thing we despise about Windows!

I don't know if that's the thing you despise about windows, but not for me.

Compiz makes the desktop have a more solid feel. I don't use the cube, I use the desktop plane plugin. But it has many good things.

One I like is the plugin that turns a window or all the desktop negative. Helps a lot when reading a long pdf that is black on white, turns it to white on black which for me is much easier to the eyes. Plus the shadows under menus and windows are a very nice addition.

EDIT: and the desktop zoom is an extremely useful tool. You can zoom in on anything.

[Mazza558]

Compiz makes the desktop have a more solid feel. I don't use the cube, I use the desktop plane plugin. But it has many good things.
.

Exactly. Whereas individual windows feel like you're using a machine, when you begin to use something with swooping/fading windows and a 3d cube, the PC seems a lot more realistic and fluid. I'm going to guess that perhaps one subconscious reason why Macs are popular with the arty types is due to the way you can really visualize your desktop, something that is much preferred for right-brained people (like me! :)). It is also obviously to do with Macs having great creative programs, but I think the visualization is an important factor. Let's also not deny that Compiz makes computing brilliantly fun.

One other benefit of Compiz is that it is a 3D compositing layer for X. This opens the door to a massive variety of plugins and similar things, and I think we have only really scraped the surface of what a 3D interface can do. Look at Looking Glass - this is a prime example.

[NightwishFan]

Compiz is not really bloated when compared to AERO. I do not really like the cube, but the water effect is great. The expo plugin allows you to drag windows between workspaces with all of them in view. Also my sight is strangely bad when reading LCD screens so zoom plugin helps alot while reading something long so I do not lose my place. I also use zoom to make Youtube videos bigger.

[keykero]

True transparency in terminal windows is nice when you have to read commands and instructions off of another document underneath. Other than that I leave most of the effects off, and I have a system far, far more powerful than necessary to run Compiz well.

[SZF2001]

I dunno, Compiz is awesome and stuff but it just might be for the more relaxed person looking for an escape from a boring desktop. And don't get me wrong, I think all desktops are boring - even OSX... Once you get past the bouncing and the glossy icons, it's just another desktop. But with Compiz you can screw around even more than OSX or Aero.

And I do like it to show my friends when they are all "DUDE AERO IS TEH FUTURE". I can show them I've been to the future, apparently, and the future was here years before Aero. But that's just them.

[Zill]

Thanks for all the quick responses - all very informative but I am still having great difficulty seeing the advantages highlighted ;-)

It seems that one popular effect is to present several open apps on one virtual desktop and then move around it - surely this is regressing back to the bad old MS days of a single desktop?

I think I would find transparency more confusing than helpful :confused:

So, I am still waiting for the "killer" Compiz feature that will improve my productivity if I invest in a suitable PC. Please keep the ideas coming :-)

[John T. Monkey]

I am not using it as the slight reduction in performance did my head in, but I would argue that if we were trying to spread the adoption of Ubuntu/Linux in general then both the eye candy and the more useful features are very important.

[chrisccoulson]

The Enhanced Zoom plugin is good - allowing me to use the scroll wheel to zoom in on the entire desktop (or press a key combination to zoom-fit the current window), and then pan around.

I like the fact that I can group and tab windows also.

With Compiz enabled, moving windows around the desktop just appears much more fluid and feels faster (with or without the wobbly windows).

I find the window previews with alt-tab useful as well. The Shift switcher and Ring switcher also provide useful alternatives to alt-tab.

The various effects you get when minimising, restoring, opening and closing windows just makes the whole desktop look more professional and the desktop experience more positive.

I like the fact that my graphics hardware isn't going to waste when I am not playing games.

So while some of Compiz is just eye-candy, I find a lot of it useful and I enjoy using my computer much more because of it. If I switch back to Metacity, it just feels like I've taken a step back in to the dark ages. I have to use Windows XP at work, and I find that I miss some Compiz features. I find XP much less productive when there are lots of windows open.

[pete]

One of the best aspects of Compiz is all the plug-ins. If you want the full-on whizbang, then you can enable every last one. If not, you can pick and choose the effects you want and enable just those.

Personally, I find subtle stuff like wobbly windows, fading effects, transparency, etc. just make my overall user experience more enjoyable. The desktop cube with fish swimming in it? Not so much, so I don't use it. The desktop wall, on the other hand, I find to be very useful, especially when it comes to remembering where I've place windows, moving them around, and so on.

Finally, even if there is no actual improvement in productivity, I have personally had multiple experiences wherein I'm using my laptop in a meeting, a non-Linux user sees my desktop, and is totally wowed by something simple like the ring switcher. Maybe it's just eye-candy, but it's gotten more than one acquaintance actively interested in Linux.

[Namtabmai]

Actually the point of 3D desktops like Compiz, is that if you have a semi decent graphics card the drawing of desktop stuff is off-loaded to the graphics card rather than the CPU. So with a semi decent graphics card your computer can be more responsive with compiz than without, as the graphic card will deal with the graphic drawing leaving the cpu to do what it does best, other wise the cpu will be trying to do both. Of course if you're using a older graphics card it probably can't cope with compiz and it will seem worse because you're graphics card can't do all the drawing that would normally done buy the cpu.

[bruce89]

Actually the point of 3D desktops like Compiz, is that if you have a semi decent graphics card the drawing of desktop stuff is off-loaded to the graphics card rather than the CPU.

It would be interesting to see cairo do all its stuff on the GPU in fact.

Compiz is completely pointless, it's good if you like a buggy window manager however.

[Namtabmai]

Compiz is completely pointless, it's good if you like a buggy window manager however.
I believe Compiz was an effort to compensate for Window managers that didn't do stuff like this, it seems now adays that two big WM are trying to incorporate Compiz into themselves to get around this.

Don't forget that Compiz is a relatively new development in Linux terms, it's inclusion in Gusty was really too early, I mean Compiz hasn't even hit a 1.0 release yet. Given time Compiz can be stable and useful, and also be a benefit for all WM as a abstraction layer to 3D accelerated desktop environment. There's no point in KDE/Gnome developing their own 3D acceleration if they can just leverage the benefits that Compiz can provide them.

[hhhhhx]

it doesent realy have a point (other than for fun), it's for people who like shiny things(like the cube/and transparency), i personally love shiny things :)

[JacobRogers]

I hate just about everything in Compiz, but there are a few features I like such as the "scale windows" feature which is like the Mac's expose. The cube and wobbly windows stuff I hate.

[SunnyRabbiera]

well even if you cant find a purpose to compiz it is definitely more worth it then aero.
I like compiz because its a lightweight compared to the hog that is aero, OSX however is a bit better then compiz in some places (like stability, OSX's stability with effects is much better) but hey compiz looks like it has a good future ahead of it

[bruce89]

There's no point in KDE/Gnome developing their own 3D acceleration if they can just leverage the benefits that Compiz can provide them.

Tell that to Metacity's developers.

[justin whitaker]

Never having had a PC with a spec good enough to run clever stuff like Compiz, I am wondering what the point of this app is.

I know you can show your desktops on a cube and then rotate it, along with other tricks such as transparency, but how does this actually improve productivity? I find the standard multiple desktops invaluable but cannot see any advantage with the cube system.

Are there any real advantages with Compiz, or is it just more eye-candy bloatware to slow the PC down - something we despise about Windows!

Actually, it can be used to be more productive...if you configure it correctly.

The cube is just one facet of compiz, as the others have noted, there are a bunch of other things that make the desktop more enjoyable, including transparency, wobbly windows, fast workplace switching with preview, avant, etc.

Could you live without it? Sure. Does Aero or OSX do alot of it? Yes.

Nantabmai has a point though: instead of making the CPU do all of the work, compiz makes the GPU do the rendering, so even on a mediocre system with a dedicated video card you get less of a performace hit than competing OSes.

[oomingmak]

Compiz has a purpose for me; it actually puts windows where I tell it to and, even more miraculously, once positioned they actually stay there!

Having become sick to the back teeth of program windows constantly piling up in the top left corner of my screen (and Metacity devs totally washing their hands of the problem) Compiz provides as solution.

It's not ideal (because you still have to set positions for each individual window) but it's better than the infuriating default behaviour of Metacity.

[Namtabmai]

All lot of the problem listed here can be divided into three categories.

1) Too many flashy effects. These can be easily switch off in Compiz while still giving you the benefit of a GPU accelerated desktop.
2) Using Compiz by default means you'll be using Emerald rather than your usually WM (such as metacity), so you prefer a different WM, nothing to do with compiz really.
3) You have a GPU incapable of coping with Compiz, no fault of your own but Ubuntu's for packaging Compiz by default in order to make things look flashy for new users.

While I can understand Ubuntu wanting to package Ubuntu with the last release it really does break away from the beauty of Linux. That is it scales really well, downwards as well as upwards, but when Ubuntu enabled Compiz by default in Gutsy it broke this. :( Hopefully they'll learn a few lesson for the next release.

[justin whitaker]

While I can understand Ubuntu wanting to package Ubuntu with the last release it really does break away from the beauty of Linux. That is it scales really well, downwards as well as upwards, but when Ubuntu enabled Compiz by default in Gutsy it broke this. :( Hopefully they'll learn a few lesson for the next release.

I am using the Alpha of Hardy Heron, and it's much better integrated.

[igknighted]

There's no point in KDE/Gnome developing their own 3D acceleration if they can just leverage the benefits that Compiz can provide them.

Compiz is like a testbed platform, or a proof of concept. Trying to turn it into a full fledged DE/WM is a bit like reinventing the wheel though. That is where Kwin, Metacity and Xfwm4 come in. The Compositing features in these WMs supplement the fully developed WM functions that already exist, building off what Compiz had done. The KDE team looked closely at this situation before adding compositing features to Kwin. They weighed the pros and cons of integrating compiz or building a fresh WM, and the proper course of action was clear... adding support in Kwin was the best for everyone.

Are the features worthless? No. There is no rational argument that can be made to say they are worthless. Are they right for you? Now that is a discussion worth having. You may find expose worthless, but it can be very useful for others. For example, I often have many Pidgin/Psi conversations open. To spread them across multiple desktops is a pain, and expose/shift switch allow me to find windows quicker (i loathe tabbed chat, don't suggest it... there's no good keyboard shortcuts to quickly get to tabs). Another case is with GIMP. I edit images on my laptop, so screen space is rather limited. I keep the window full screen, and can expose to get the proper toolbar quickly.

Not to mention on top of all this, if you have a decent graphics card it can save you some burden on your CPU to offload work to the GPU, especially on older systems. This requires judicious use of compositing, not full blown Compiz Fusion but perhaps Xfwm4. I use it on a server that needs a GUI because the built in ATI graphics chip handles stuff that the CPU otherwise would.

My point is that there are features that are genuinely usable here. That does not guarantee that they will help youm but that doesn't make them worthless. Not everyone finds Vim useful, and others find Firefox's extensions to be nothing but bloat, and people don't write this off as worthless. This is no different.


All lot of the problem listed here can be divided into three categories.

1) Too many flashy effects. These can be easily switch off in Compiz while still giving you the benefit of a GPU accelerated desktop.
2) Using Compiz by default means you'll be using Emerald rather than your usually WM (such as metacity), so you prefer a different WM, nothing to do with compiz really.
3) You have a GPU incapable of coping with Compiz, no fault of your own but Ubuntu's for packaging Compiz by default in order to make things look flashy for new users.

1) As you say, turn them off. Or use Xfwm4, Metacity or Kwin instead.
2) No, Compiz is the WM, and it replaces metacity. Emerald is a more advanced themer that draws window borders. You can use your original GTK/metacity themes with compiz, and I think the default is set to do this.
3) Compiz _only_ activates on capable hardware, so you might feel left out if it doesn't work, but is that any different than would have been the case otherwise?

[Namtabmai]

Compiz is like a testbed platform,.. The Compositing features in these WMs supplement the fully developed WM functions that already exist, building off what Compiz had done.

Absolutely, getting compise would be a bad thing generally for the development or Linux, we really need to just to wait for it to be come stable and the major WM to make better use of it.


Are the features worthless? No. There is no rational argument that can be made to say they are worthless. Are they right for you?
Again, absolutely, like you said Compiz is a test bed, the "useless" features people see and use at the moment are just a way of showing what can be done, it doesn't mean you have to use them.




Which is what I've been trying to point out in this thread all along, for the people with low powered GPU's compiz gives no benefits, but for everyone else it will even if you hate the default effects it provides.

[quote]
3) Compiz _only_ activates on capable hardware, so you might feel left out if it doesn't work, but is that any different than would have been the case
otherwise?

Sorry probably just my work MacBook Pro where the ATI graphics *could* use compiz but only if I installed the XGL server, which isn't installed by default making installation a little bit more tedious.

[klange]

Sorry probably just my work MacBook Pro where the ATI graphics *could* use compiz but only if I installed the XGL server, which isn't installed by default making installation a little bit more tedious.
The old frglx drivers were not compatible with AIGLX, so they didn't work with Compiz unless you had XGL. ATI finally fixed that back in late January if I remember correctly. Of course, I still use the 'radeon' drivers for various reasons...

e: In response to some previous comments, Metacity is very slow on my laptop compared to running Compiz. And that's on an Intel GMA945. Same goes for my desktop, but in the extreme - 1.5ghz single core, but with an x800. Metacity is like constantly being in a VNC session, but with Compiz, the machine is faster than my laptop.

I can not live without Scale, so even if I weren't a rookie Compiz dev, I'd still have all the reason to keep using it.

[justsomedude]

I use Blender, the Gimp and Inkscape simultaneously.

A lot.

All the time.

To work on the same files.

Without Compiz, I'd never be able to use these three programs at the same time as effective as I do now.

For me, it's the future of computing. :)

[mk4umha]

I use the 64 bit version of Ubuntu along with Virtual Box with windows XP on my Dell D630 for work and I can tell you that originally, I thought seeing the cube rotate around was a nice effect but worthless. That changed when I had to compared 2 and 3 data sheets for pinouts on a computer chip. I found myself using the cube and positioning it to where i could see both datasheets at once was a nice feature to have. It's also nice to flick the the mouse left and right to compare pinouts easier. I know I couldn't do this without the compiz Cube Feature so I give kudo's to the designers of Compiz.

I also use the Expo and Scale plugins alot. Ring switcher and alt-tab is kinda useless to me.

It's also nice to have 2 desktops to compare code line by line.

[Luffield]

I think the maximumize plugin is going to be quite useful:
http://dev.compiz-fusion.org/~kristian/2007/12/18/the-maximumize-plugin/

[Zill]

...While I can understand Ubuntu wanting to package Ubuntu with the last release it really does break away from the beauty of Linux. That is it scales really well, downwards as well as upwards, but when Ubuntu enabled Compiz by default in Gutsy it broke this. :( Hopefully they'll learn a few lesson for the next release.
That is my primary concern about Compiz... IMHO, Linux should provide a stable, efficient OS with the minimum amount of "bloat".
Compiz just seems to provide a few flashy gimmicks which should, of course, be readily available to those who want them. But, so far, I cannot see any justification for enabling this by default in a Linux distro.

[ssam]

lower cpu usuage. normally everytime a part of a window is uncovered (by moving another window in front, unminimising it, or closing one of its menus), the applications get send an expose signal and has to redraw that bit of its window to the screen. with compiz it only has to redraw things when they change.

you can mostly see this when an application is temporarily unresponsive, and you minimise and then show it again. it will not be able to redraw until it has recoved.

try this:
open inkscape
open help -> about inkscape
slide this window off the edge of the screen, and back on again.
without compiz it takes about half a second to redraw the image. with compiz the is no redraw needed.

of course you can cancel out this gain by turning on all the effects, which use lots of CPU.

accessibility.
with compiz you can do high quality, live updated zooming. this is very good for people who need to maginfy small things on screen. also you can apply full screen effects, like increasing contrast, or inverting colours, which help some people.

natural movement. without metacity, things just appear and disappear. switching desktops means all you windows disappear, and if you are lucky a new set appear. with compiz things just move. some people claim this is a bit easier on the brain, because windows are more like physical objects.

drop shaddows. good for making things stand out from each other. get 2 bits of white paper, and put one half on top of the other. you can see the edge because of the shaddow, not because of an outline. easier on the brain again.

resizing windows. (i have not seen this implemented, but it would be good). sometimes you might want a window open to keep an eye on something but you dont want it to take up the whole screen. how about just rescaling it to a little window you can stick in the corner.

[garba]

that stuff is crap, nothing but a cheap way to make your desktop look "3d accelerated" too bad nothing gets rendered through opengl...
the idea is: draw a window, make a texture out of that, and apply some opengl effects to the abovementioned texture... and that's about it

[klange]

resizing windows. (i have not seen this implemented, but it would be good). sometimes you might want a window open to keep an eye on something but you dont want it to take up the whole screen. how about just rescaling it to a little window you can stick in the corner.
There are tons of different scaling options in Compiz. Freewins (which has been backported to 0.6.0) has direct window scaling.

[el_ricardo]

I think compiz definatly has a purpose. Because it makes your dekstop fun to work with, it increases productivity by making you want to work at your computer.

[Virgilius]

Compiz makes Mac and Windows look like dressed-up piles of **** in a doggy bag and plus it makes things more interesting and allows you to set fire to your desktop :D

[Aeph]

I think compiz definatly has a purpose. Because it makes your dekstop fun to work with, it increases productivity by making you want to work at your computer.

I've found myself zoning out and drawing on the screen with the fire plugin when I'm supposed to be working, but thats just me. That aside, I don't think it has a very practical purpose other than drawing people to Linux. It's a really cool way to waste RAM, and I don't mind doing so.

[klange]

I've found myself zoning out and drawing on the screen with the fire plugin when I'm supposed to be working, but thats just me. That aside, I don't think it has a very practical purpose other than drawing people to Linux. It's a really cool way to waste RAM, and I don't mind doing so.
If you consider 18MB of RAM usage wasteful...
I've had Compiz run in 4MB, just depends on what's happening and how long I've let it leak (IE, many many days of non-stop use...)

[dgoodma]

Productive, I wonder.

After installing it; it worked for awhile until I hooked up an external monitor, then things got all confused, spent quite a bit of time trying to figure things out; ended up doing a fresh install. Now rather leary of trying again.

This is on a laptop where you have to deal with all of the driver issues, wish "they" could just make that more straight-forward.

Graphics cards, resolution settings, implementing cool effects on a laptop with a graphics card that should "just work", all could be a little more less involved. The journey, in this case was not worth the destination.

[thenailedone]

I can't help but smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside when ever I maximise a window and it pops up and quivers slightly after impact with the top of the screen before standing still... wobbly windows rule so hard :guitar:

[Washer]

There are tons of different scaling options in Compiz. Freewins (which has been backported to 0.6.0) has direct window scaling. do you have a video or a description of this? All I saw on youtube was rotating windows & I need an idea of how scaling works if I'm to get it.

[klange]

do you have a video or a description of this? All I saw on youtube was rotating windows & I need an idea of how scaling works if I'm to get it.

Here (http://youtube.com/watch?v=1vTN-Hgq5DU) is an old video of Freescale (which was integrated into Freewins)

[igknighted]

Productive, I wonder.

After installing it; it worked for awhile until I hooked up an external monitor, then things got all confused, spent quite a bit of time trying to figure things out; ended up doing a fresh install. Now rather leary of trying again.

This is on a laptop where you have to deal with all of the driver issues, wish "they" could just make that more straight-forward.

Graphics cards, resolution settings, implementing cool effects on a laptop with a graphics card that should "just work", all could be a little more less involved. The journey, in this case was not worth the destination.

Spin up a Mandriva One liveCD or a Sabayon Live CD/DVD and see how hard it is to set up desktop effects. These distributions can handle it without the user ever seeing what is going on. So while it may take effort to set up in some distributions, that is not universal.

[blueturtl]

Never having had a PC with a spec good enough to run clever stuff like Compiz, I am wondering what the point of this app is.

I know you can show your desktops on a cube and then rotate it, along with other tricks such as transparency, but how does this actually improve productivity? I find the standard multiple desktops invaluable but cannot see any advantage with the cube system.

Are there any real advantages with Compiz, or is it just more eye-candy bloatware to slow the PC down - something we despise about Windows!

When you get right down to it Compiz is just hardware accelerated user enhancement. I'm not sure the Compiz people see it that way, or even if the Ubuntu team sees it that way, but for me it's obvious that the effects are supposed to help people visually grasp what their system is doing.

During the days of 5.04 I tried to explain to an (older) friend the concept of multiple desktops and he had difficulty understanding where the windows on my desktop were disappearing. Nowadays I rotate the cube and 'lo and behold they now get it. Also having the windows go into the taskbar with an effect (like the genie for example) helps people realize what minimizing a window is. Yes, there really are people who think that a minimized window is as good as a closed application - they then proceed to reopen through the menu icon which sometimes causes problems. Finally, for those with poor eyesight the magnifying glass is no effect, it is a godsend.

There are many more useful effects, though not all effects were meant to help people. Some are just for fun. If you start examining the effects though you can find that a surprising amount have some hidden meaning or lesson they're trying to teach to the viewer.

For those of us who understand the concepts using a 2D desktop Compiz is pretty much useless, but you know what they say about aesthetics... :)

[Washer]

Here (http://youtube.com/watch?v=1vTN-Hgq5DU) is an old video of Freescale (which was integrated into Freewins)
hmm looks good. I'll get it.

[klange]

When you get right down to it Compiz is just hardware accelerated user enhancement. I'm not sure the Compiz people see it that way, or even if the Ubuntu team sees it that way, but for me it's obvious that the effects are supposed to help people visually grasp what their system is doing.

During the days of 5.04 I tried to explain to an (older) friend the concept of multiple desktops and he had difficulty understanding where the windows on my desktop were disappearing. Nowadays I rotate the cube and 'lo and behold they now get it. Also having the windows go into the taskbar with an effect (like the genie for example) helps people realize what minimizing a window is. Yes, there really are people who think that a minimized window is as good as a closed application - they then proceed to reopen through the menu icon which sometimes causes problems. Finally, for those with poor eyesight the magnifying glass is no effect, it is a godsend.

There are many more useful effects, though not all effects were meant to help people. Some are just for fun. If you start examining the effects though you can find that a surprising amount have some hidden meaning or lesson they're trying to teach to the viewer.

For those of us who understand the concepts using a 2D desktop Compiz is pretty much useless, but you know what they say about aesthetics... :)

I think that really is the best way to look at it. Tons of effects really help you visualize things better. Other plugins do add functionality - I couldn't live without Scale.

Compiz's benefits can fit into a couple of categories:
1. The useful stuff - Scale, opacity, zoom, mag
2. The visualizing stuff - Cube, minimizing animations, etc
3. The eye candy - Wallpaper, blur, reflections
4. The unique - The Wiimote Compiz "Project"
and
5. The just plain cool - Firepaint (unless you think it can be called eye candy...)

It's the people that complain about not liking the effects that really get on my nerves. If you don't like them, that's your opinion, don't complain to us because you think the cube is stupid, you're just wasting our time which could be better spent fixing the problems presented in legitimate complaints.

[drbob07]

I generally do think Compiz has quite a bit of usefulness associated with it.

First off, it's eyecandy, first and foremost, the most impressive eyecandy across any platform. Lets face it, if you have Dual 8800GTX's under the hood, and you're not playing some serious games under Linux, you should put them to use somehow, why not dazzle your friends and get them to switch :D

Secondly, it does add some much needed functionality. It's just that it adds them in "overly-spectaluar" ways. For example Desktop Cube, it gives a nice view to multiple workspaces, but it's entirely eyecandy, aside from say unfold cube (ctrl+alt+down), or using the Expo plugin (Super+e)

So in my opinion, it's just a way of making old, "boring" features, into new "visually appealing" features.

[Zill]

When you get right down to it Compiz is just hardware accelerated user enhancement. I'm not sure the Compiz people see it that way, or even if the Ubuntu team sees it that way, but for me it's obvious that the effects are supposed to help people visually grasp what their system is doing.

During the days of 5.04 I tried to explain to an (older) friend the concept of multiple desktops and he had difficulty understanding where the windows on my desktop were disappearing. Nowadays I rotate the cube and 'lo and behold they now get it. Also having the windows go into the taskbar with an effect (like the genie for example) helps people realize what minimizing a window is. Yes, there really are people who think that a minimized window is as good as a closed application - they then proceed to reopen through the menu icon which sometimes causes problems. Finally, for those with poor eyesight the magnifying glass is no effect, it is a godsend.

There are many more useful effects, though not all effects were meant to help people. Some are just for fun. If you start examining the effects though you can find that a surprising amount have some hidden meaning or lesson they're trying to teach to the viewer.

For those of us who understand the concepts using a 2D desktop Compiz is pretty much useless, but you know what they say about aesthetics... :)
blueturtl: I think you may have hit the main purpose of Compiz as I have worked with the people you have described ;-)

It seems that there may be a place for Compiz but I do hope that it does not become part of the default Ubuntu installation. Many users have low-spec PCs that would be crippled by the overhead of this app - and other users would find many of the effects plain irritating! However, choice is good so let's keep Compiz as an option for those who really want it :-)