Preview: Copiz Fusion
First, there was Compiz it was highly stable and amazed users with its wobbly windows. Then came Beryl, a fork of Compiz it focused it's efforts on effects. Now the two have joined forces to give us the best of both worlds, the stability of Compiz with the effects of Beryl. Behold: Compiz Fusion
Written by Alex
The Cube
The cube is a 3D representational view of your desktop. It maps out 4 (or more) workspaces onto a huge 3D object, and allows you to drag your windows around it. This makes it incredibly easy to manage said windows, by having you imagine exactly where they are at. The mind thinks better in 3D, so why should your computer be any different?
An extension to this plugin, even though it is listed separately, is the cube-rotate plugin. It allows you to take your cube, and rotate it around and let you view it from every angle and detail. With the sky dome enabled, this is an amazing and breath taking effect. Not to mention useful for switching between workspaces.
One of the coolest effect added to Fusion is the Reflection. It projects an exact reflection of the cube onto an imaginary plane below. It adds the the realism of Compiz, and is just great eye candy.
Expo
The Expo Plugin is a remake of the wall plugin from Beryl. The added bonus is that it can be enabled at the same time as the cube, being mapped to moving the mouse into the upper left hand corner by default. It allows you to drag windows around on a 'wall' of your desktops. It's very useful in getting a somewhat aerial view of all your windows. The reflection plugin also works well with it. Something fun to do is start up a movie, and at the same time watch a download progress or watch for incoming IMs. Really, another beautiful effect.
Fire Paint
Feel like leaving your family a message, but out of sticky notes or space on the fridge? Fire Paint is the perfect solution. Who wouldn't want to draw all over their screen in fire? Provides hours of entertainment.
All these things together are just a part of what makes Compiz Fusion so great. These are only the main new plugins, and Fusion is still a work in progress. Also, most of the effects in Compiz Fusion are animated so static screenshots really don't do the effects justice. They really do need to be seen to be believed!
If you're interested in testing out Compiz Fusion and can't wait for Gutsy to come out, as I couldn't, head over to Ubuntu Forums (http://www.ubuntuforums.org). Just be aware that Compiz Fusion is still being worked on, updated almost daily and you will at some point see glitches, but don't be scared, it is still very stable.
With the merge of Compiz and Beryl, an amazing new product is in the works. Compiz Fusion brings what's great about Beryl (the effects) and Compiz (stability), throws them together, eliminates many of the problems that plagued them, and adds its own goodies. Even in this early stage of development, Compiz Fusion is more stable than the Desktop Effects included with Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. It also runs much smoother than Beryl, in tests up to 15 frames per second faster on my machine. The new plugins give your desktop a smooth feel, and a productive workspace with as many workspaces as required.
Compiz Fusion is indeed all it is hyped up to be. And, as an added bonus: it will come by default in Ubuntu 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon.
To quote Mark Shuttleworth: pretty is a feature.
