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Linux Shows It’s Still The King Of 3D Desktops

By Robert | April 26, 2007

All three of the major operating systems out there, be it Windows Vista, Mac OS X or Linux, all have some form of desktop 3D eye candy. Up until recently Mac OS X had been alone with its window transitioning and minimizing effects. Then Windows Vista then came along with its Flip 3D and window transitions. Today I will be taking a look at Beryl, the composing layer for Linux which allows you to have all sorts of eye candy. One good thing about Beryl is the immense configurability. In my opinion this makes it superior to anything else on the market. To top it off I will be trying it out on Ubuntu 7.04, “Feisty Fawn” which was only released recently on the 19th of April 2007. Before I start, a lot of the technical installation directions can be found on Ubuntu Guide - it’s which is where I learned them. This is a great website with detailed instructions on doing all sorts of things in Ubuntu including installing drivers and Beryl.

In conclusion Beryl offers what I think is the best 3D desktop currently out there and what makes it even better is that it is free. The only downside is that not all programs run on Linux which is the only OS it supports and probably will be for quite a while. It is extremely customizable, surprisingly easy to set up (especially on a Linux distribution aimed at consumers like Ubuntu) and is remarkably stable. Some people may bring up the point that all of these animations and effects are useless and all that they do is waste resources. It is true that they require more resources than a regular desktop but some of the application and desktop switching features help to improve the efficiency of the OS and allow it to be more intuitive with the user. All of this software is free and can be tried out on your computer, so why not give Beryl and Emerald a go - you might like it.

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