[[HomePage]] > [[ComponentHowTo Components and HowTos]] > [[GuiIndex GUI]] > [[WindowManagers]]

====Window Managers with Special Effects====

Many Window Managers have 'special effects' for your graphical enjoyment, for example transparency & 3D.  

To get an idea of the difference these effects can make to how to use your computer, static pictures alone won't help.
	- Watch some videos. Here's [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=IGnQTfI4Iqc a short one]] (1 min 11 secs) showing Beryl, Metisse & Looking Glass.
	- Try them out for yourself

Below there is information and links to find out more on the following Window Managers:
	- Beryl
	- Compiz-Fusion
	- Metisse
	- Project Looking Glass
	- Xfwm

Also see, [[Compiz]]

==Beryl==
Originally a fork of Compiz. Now officially re-merged into Compiz to create Compiz-Fusion. Some people still prefer Beryl.
	- [[http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=66371 Beryl-0.2.1 for Puppy 4.3 and Puppy 5.2x Lucid]]
	- [[http://www.beryl-project.org/ Beryl homepage]]
	- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_(window_manager) Beryl wikipedia page]]
	**Videos**
	- [[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6102444362173636066&q=puppy+beryl&total=3&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 Puppy 2.13 with Beryl 0.2.1]] (2 mins 15 secs)
	- [[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2690866008461615113&q=beryl&total=5679&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6 Short video]] (47 secs)
	- [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=VniBApxcFzU Beryl demonstration video]] (5 mins 39 secs)

==Compiz-Fusion==
The "hot" special effects window manager, with many plug-ins to add different effects.
	- PuppyNOP > Compiz-Fusion & Wobbly NOP: combines Xfce with Compiz-Fusion.
	- [[http://www.compiz-fusion.org/ Compiz-Fusion homepage]]
	- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiz_Fusion  Compiz-Fusion wikipedia page]]
	==Video==
	- [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=Op2JK12ERA0 Wobbly Puppy NOP experimental in action]] (2 mins 48 secs)
	- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u30ciyNkPAk Compiz-Fusion on Puppy 3.00]] (6 mins 11 secs)

==Metisse==
A somewhat different concept from straightforward 3D WMs like Compiz-Fusion. Apparently lighter on computer resources than the Compiz family.
""<a href="http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=metisse3dfr6.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/695/metisse3dfr6.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a> <a href="http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pfduwfwkfzrr1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4250/pfduwfwkfzrr1.th.jpg" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>""
	- [[http://insitu.lri.fr/metisse/ Metisse homepage]]
	- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metisse  Metisse wikipedia page]]
	- [[http://tmxxine.com/Wikka/wikka.php?wakka=AddMetisse&show_comments=1#comments Adding Metisse to Puppy]]
	==Videos==
	- [[http://coblitz.codeen.org/tmxxine.com/movies/metisse.mov Video of Metisse on Puppy]] by Crusty Lobster (48MB, .mov)
	- [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=4Nuis8u5vuo Video of some of the window organization possibilities of Metisse]] (46 secs)
	- [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gp8GzKwBdsg Video of creating you own UI for The GIMP]] (6 mins, 12 secs)
	- [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=CXoTy_06dFc Video showing some more effects]] (50 secs)
	- [[http://insitu.lri.fr/metisse/videos/ More videos]]

==Project Looking Glass==
3D desktop environment using ""Java3D"".
	- [[https://lg3d-core.dev.java.net/ Project Looking Glass homepage]]
	- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Looking_Glass Project Looking Glass wikipedia page]]
	==Video==
	- [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=OrwE2T6cLMk Video of PLG on Linux]] (3 mins 54 secs)

==Xfwm==
Xfwm is the default WM of the [[Xfce]] desktop environment, capable of true transparency & shadows. While not as flexible as Metisse or Compiz-Fusion, it is very stable.
	- [[http://www.xfce.org/projects/xfwm4/ Xfwm homepage]]
	- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfce  Xfce wikipedia page]]
	- XfcePuppy, for more info re Xfce on Puppy
	- PuppyNOP, a [[Puplets puplet]] with Xfce & Opera already built-in.
	==Video==
	- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bezi6leUf8c Short video of Xfwm transparency effects]] (12 secs)
	- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iOwruZMXGc Video showing how to enable & change effects in Xfwm]] (2 mins 46 secs)(loud music!)


eg. root/.icewm/themes/Venusian/default theme


==Also see==
~[[WindowManagers Window Managers]]
~[[ChangeWindowManager How to Change Window Manager]]
~[[DesktopEnvironments Desktop Environments]]
~[[http://www.gilesorr.com/wm/table.html List of window managers]]

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==Categories==
CategoryGUI