Install Three Experimental Compiz Plugins

Published in July 31st, 2008

Some Compiz Fusion effects are unsupported and are not usually easily available from software repositories. I installed three well-known, but experimental, Compiz plugins: atlantis2, freewins, and screensaver. These plugins must be compiled from source and could break Compiz, so this how-to is recommended for intermediate to advanced Linux users only. atlantis2 adds a customizable aquarium [...]

Install KDE 4.1 in Ubuntu, and Make GTK Applications Look Good

Published in July 30th, 2008

Posted by Tom in software

36 Comments

KDE 4.1, the second major release of KDE 4, has been released. KDE 4.1 adds new applications (including the KDE PIM suite), improvements to the Plasma desktop shell, and improved frameworks for developers. The same day as KDE 4.1 was released, packages were available for Ubuntu. You can easily install a KDE 4 desktop alongside [...]

Launchy Application Launcher Released for Linux

Published in July 29th, 2008

Posted by Tom in software

14 Comments

Launchy is a well-known open source application launcher for Windows. With version 2.1, Launchy has been ported to Linux. Launchy is a free windows and linux utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager. Launchy can be installed from the DEB package provided [...]

StackSwitch and Wallpaper Plugins with Compiz 0.7.6

Published in July 28th, 2008

Posted by Tom in tips

15 Comments

Over the weekend I played more with Compiz 0.7.6 on Ubuntu. Here’s two more cool new plugins and how to set them up. Reader Exsecrabilus requested that I write about the unique new StackSwitch window switcher for Compiz. StackSwitch tilts your desktop and windows down like a table, and flips up the selected window. StackSwitch [...]

Upgrade to the Latest Compiz Fusion Release

Published in July 25th, 2008

Posted by Tom in tips

41 Comments

Since the release of Ubuntu 8.04, Compiz Fusion has been updated to version 0.7.6. Been eying the new cylinder and sphere deformations effects or other new plugins? It’s not hard to upgrade Ubuntu 8.04′s version of Compiz to get the latest and greatest desktop effects. You’ll need to add a new repository that contains recent [...]

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