Vista prototype UI

[JerecDrak2]

Hey guys,
I just came across this YouTube video http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHPo5JPObq8
and boy was I surprised! MS have (had) an amazing vision and I'm wondering: Will Ubuntu (I suppose it's more the GNOME/X Server/Compiz devs) be able to keep up? Do you think MS will be able to achieve all of what they set out to do for Vista in Windows 7? With it's release only 1.5 or so years away I can't help but think Windows will be king of bling on the Desktop given all the problems the development of the X Server is facing.

[Jdm111]

Will have a look later. Youtube is down right now.

[stormtrooprdave]

Apparently this is from 2003 and somehow turned into Vista along the way. The only thing different really is the 3d icons in windows explorer, they do look very nice but I'm sure that could be done with compiz

[JerecDrak2]

Apparently this is from 2003 and somehow turned into Vista along the way. The only thing different really is the 3d icons in windows explorer, they do look very nice but I'm sure that could be done with compiz

I don't think so, from my understanding Nautilus would have to implement the 3D icons in the file manager (Compiz is just a window manager) which means it's up to the GNOME devs. I'm guessing that also means we have to wait until they update GTK+, so it could be a long while before we see anything like this.

[Jdm111]

Wow, Looks really good.

[JerecDrak2]

Here's another concept video I found.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=rGpN5hwOxR8

It looks a bit more like Vista's final design, but with a lot more bling. I'm quite fond of the functionality in the Start bar.

[overdrank]

Moved :)

[barbedsaber]

I forgot to pause the video for a few seconds before I started veiwing it, so it wouldn't skip every few seconds (not the fastest internet in the world.) it stopped playing after less than a second, just like real windows! :)

EDIT: I was going to post a big compiz can do that rant, but, wow. I need a new graphics card, and a few K to invest in compiz development.

[JerecDrak2]

If only Compiz could do all that! Does anyone know exactly what components need to be updated for stuff like this to happen on Linux? I know the Compiz guys are always on about input redirection, but frankly I have no idea why:confused:
Also does anyone know where to look for a GTK+ development roadmap? I'm pretty sure that needs to gain 3D capabilities before the file-manager bling can happen and I want to know if they're planned
Thanks

[SunnyRabbiera]

Well its more the possible, but what can be done is different then what should be done.
Vista has made a sacrifice by trading in low memory use in favor of flashy effects.
Vista is a hog, its definiately a memory eater.

[notyetroot]

In theory, Compiz Fusion is already capable of all that as far as I know.

Edit: When somebody writes a plugin.

[rune0077]

In theory, Compiz Fusion is already capable of all that as far as I know.

Edit: When somebody writes a plugin.

Nah, Compiz as someone else mentioned, Compiz doesn't control Nautilus behavior, so you'd need to write the 3d code into Nautilus directly.

[geoken]

I hate when Linux users dismiss every Microsoft idea/implementation with the obligatory "Meh, Compiz could technically do that".

Who cares what Compiz could technically do? Compiz could technically draw minimized Windows, but despite promising to do so for almost 2 years it still hasn't been implemented and by extension still can't offer features taken for granted in Vista/OS X (features like docks with actual window previews for minimized windows).

This extends to other apps as well. If someone brings up some great feature in Windows explorer, they don't care whether it's technically possible in Nautilus. The only thing they care about is that Nautilus has relative feature parity with Win 2000's explorer.

[SunnyRabbiera]

I hate when Linux users dismiss every Microsoft idea/implementation with the obligatory "Meh, Compiz could technically do that".

Who cares what Compiz could technically do? Compiz could technically draw minimized Windows, but despite promising to do so for almost 2 years it still hasn't been implemented and by extension still can't offer features taken for granted in Vista/OS X (features like docks with actual window previews for minimized windows).

This extends to other apps as well. If someone brings up some great feature in Windows explorer, they don't care whether it's technically possible in Nautilus. The only thing they care about is that Nautilus has relative feature parity with Win 2000's explorer.

Yes but compiz has made great strides, sure it still needs work but hey everything does.
I dont care about flashy effects personally, nor do I hcare if vista/OSX has effect A, B or C... I care if it works and for me Compiz works.

[lzfy]

Just to be clear, these effects aren't present in Vista. MS dropped them and decided to not to change too much to the UI. I don't know about gnome, but KDE dev's certainly are doing some great things and I'm sure we can expect effects like this in KDE 4.4 or something.

[JerecDrak2]

Just to be clear, these effects aren't present in Vista. MS dropped them and decided to not to change too much to the UI. I don't know about gnome, but KDE dev's certainly are doing some great things and I'm sure we can expect effects like this in KDE 4.4 or something.

That's cool, I've never tried KDE out, it's something that's been on my to-do list, but I just haven't seen any great advantages over GNOME.

And I'm not comparing Compiz to Vista's window manager, I was just looking for people's opinions on whether Windows will streak past Linux and OS X in the desktop bling wars with the advent of Windows 7. The foundations are all there in Vista for an interface such as the one in the videos; whether Microsoft decides to build on those foundations or focus its efforts elsewhere, as it did for Vista, remains to be seen. Do you think the Linux ecosystem can evolve to a point where it can compete on an aesthetic level in ~1.5 years? I sure hope so.