Embrace Eye Candy with Compiz on the Linux Desktop

"Tired of a looking at a flat, bland desktop? It's time for some eye candy, Compiz-style. Using Compiz you can enable all sorts of fantastic desktop effects and attractive themes. Want to spruce up your machine with 3D eye candy? Read on to enable Compiz, manage your workspaces with a 3D cube, and help yourself to the Emerald collection of Compiz themes.

"Of course before we can get to those super cool effects, we have to get Compiz installed on your desktop. And that is what this tutorial is all about — installing Compiz.

"Pre-Install Check

"Before you can install Compiz, you have to make sure you have the hardware that will power compositing. Finding an "official minimum requirements" list is a bit of a challenge. But I will say that most modern desktop machines should be powerful enough to use Compiz. If you already have Linux installed, and you're using the GNOME desktop, a good way to check is to click System > Preferences > Appearance. In this new window click on the Visual Effects tab and select either Normal or Extra. If all of a sudden your desktop seems to have a few extra effects (like Wobbly Windows) you're good to go."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Five Best Alternative Window Managers for Linux(Jan 30, 2011)
• Turn Your Linux Desktop,Tablet or Touch Device into Digital Sketchpad(Jan 25, 2011)
• Enabling Compiz Fusion On A Fedora 14 GNOME Desktop (NVIDIA GeForce 8100)(Dec 13, 2010)
• Fedora, like Ubuntu, to dump X for Wayland(Nov 15, 2010)
• Script to Install Incredible Compiz Experimental Plugins in Ubuntu Maverick, Lucid(Nov 10, 2010)
• Compiz to be Rewritten for Ubuntu Wayland(Nov 10, 2010)