An OpenGL Desktop with XGL

I saw an article a couple of weeks ago with a link to a video on XGL. I'd never heard of it before, but it sounded interesting. I loaded the video and it was a demo showing all the features of XGL. It showed how you could make windows wobble and bounce around. It looked cool so I decided I wanted to try it out for myself on my Ubuntu box.


I quick Google search and I found a guide for the install. The first guide I followed had me install Compiz for the window manager. It was nice, but not very customizable, at least not with the setup I had. I then found a another guide using Beryl instead of Compiz. It allowed me to turn on features I liked and turn off others that I didn't. It also allowed me to change the window theme and had plenty of themes to choose from. It also had the ability to turn itself off.


My experience with XGL/Beryl has been quite a pleasant one. It was very easy to install, especially if you already have your OpenGL drivers already installed. There are all sort of neat special effects that can keep you entertained for hours, and its fairly stable for being in early development stages. Performance was pretty good. I have a AMD 2400+ and a Nvidia Geforce FX 5900 and it handled everything with ease.


Just recently I've read that you can use Beryl/Compiz through AIGLX instead of XGL. This makes it so you don't have to have a special X server. Instead you run through extensions that already exist in Xorg 7.1, meaning all you have to do is install AIGLX and you're able to use Beryl/Compiz. Also, with the new beta Nvidia drivers, it has the extensions to completely remove the need for either XGL or AIGLX.


All in all, I feel that this technology is far superior to what Microsoft is offering in Vista. It has much cleaner and feature rich features, and best of all, its free.


Ubuntu 6.06/6.10 Guides for installing XGL/Beryl, AIGLX/Beryl or just Beryl (through Nvidia 9xxx drivers):
http://wiki.beryl-project.org/index.php/Install/Ubuntu/Dapper/XGL

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