Ubuntu How-to => Desktop effects using Compiz

So, you have your Ubuntu ready. But before you go around showing it off, you want to really jazz it up. What do you do?? Say hello to Compiz. To get a feel, watch it in action <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Fbk52Mk1w" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Compiz Fusion: A Quick Demonstration - YouTube</a>.

1. The first thing to do is update your installation. Open a terminal window and type the following commands one by one. You will need to provide your login password to proceed.

 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

2. After you have updated Ubuntu, make sure you are using the latest video drivers for your graphic card. Go to System>Administration>Hardware drivers. If there are any proprietary drivers available for your computer, then install them by checking the appropriate box.


3. Update your system once again by using the update and upgrade commands given above.

4. Now we are ready to install Compiz. In a terminal window, type :

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager emerald

apt will prompt you to install certain dependencies as well. Just type y when prompted and continue with the installation. Once the installation is over, update your system.

5. Now go to System>Preferences>Advanced Desktop Effects
In the window that opens, explore the various effects that you can enable. The most common ones are, Desktop cube, Rotate cube, Fire, Water effect and wobbly windows.

If for some reason you enable an effect and your desktop settings window stops responding, just minimise it and restore. Works 99% of the time. If your entire desktop has become unresponsive, press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace. This will restart your X server and you will be able to log in again.

NOTE: If you use 9.04 and have an Intel 965 chipset, you'd better update your system before you install copmpiz. This chipset has been blacklisted by Ubuntu due to stability issues. Read more about it <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/359392" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Bug #359392 (x-freeze-apr3) “[i965] X freezes starting on April ...” : Jaunty (9.04) : Bugs : xserver-xorg-video-intel package : Ubuntu</a>.

6. One last thing, go to Preferences>Sessions, on the Startup Programs tab click on the Add button. In the window that opens up, type Emerald in the name field and emerald --replace in the command field.

For Emerald themes, visit #-Link-Snipped-#.

That's it, you're ready to show off your Ubuntu and put other operating systems to shame!!

Like 0 Replies 4

Replies

Welcome, guest

Join CrazyEngineers to reply, ask questions, and participate in conversations.

Sign up Log in

CrazyEngineers powered by Jatra Community Platform

  • durga ch
    durga ch

    @durga-TpX3gO • Jul 22, 2009

    I thought as in WONDOWS advanced desktop options actually consume CPU resoruces including memory , so I just agve it a try unlike using it.
    By the way Maddie 😁 apart from 'top' do we have any other process to see the system resources being utilised? i am not an advanced user , so not sure if we have anything like " ALT+CTL+DEL" in ubuntu.

    0
  • Aashish Joshi
    Aashish Joshi

    @aashish-VrevFC • Jul 22, 2009

    The desktop effects do consume some amount of system resources, but they will not slow down your system to a crawl. If your graphics card is not suitable for the effects, then they will not be enabled. I use them on my 2+ year old laptop (with centrino) and I hardly notice anything out of the ordinary.

    Have you tried the system monitor?? It is similar to task manager in windows..

    Press alt + f2 and then, in GNOME type:

    gnome-system-monitor

    Or if you use KDE:

    ksysguard
    0
  • savitha_chandu
    savitha_chandu

    @savitha-chandu-gjCsnX • Aug 5, 2009

    can you tell me the difference between open sourcing and outsourcing?
    how to loas ubuntu(linux os) in my pc windows xp

    0
  • Aashish Joshi
    Aashish Joshi

    @aashish-VrevFC • Aug 5, 2009

    Open source is the movement, wherein you release your program code to the public, under appropriate licenses, of course.

    Outsourcing is the act of deputing certain business processess of your company to another company, usually to reduce the cost of manpower involved.

    0