CompizTeam

We want to make compiz rock on Ubuntu. Therefore we also have the CompizSprintAgenda.

Status of Xv video

To test this, run gstreamer-properties, go to "Video", select the Xv plugin under "Output" and then click on "Test". If you see a testpattern under compiz, it works, otherwise it does not.

• xserver-xorg-video-ati: works with 6.6.193-1ubuntu1
  • Not perfect (on older hardware at any rate). On my T30, the RV200-based radeon 7500 there are a lot of artifacts displayed within the test pattern (many black spots sprinkled throughout).
• xserver-xorg-video-i810: work with 1.7.4-0ubuntu5
• xserver-xorg-video-intel: i965 does *not* work and will not work without EXA
  • I got this output: Gdk-ERROR **: The program 'gstreamer-properties' received an X Window System error. This probably reflects a bug in the program.

    The error was 'BadAlloc (insufficient resources for operation)'. (Details: serial 52 error_code 11 request_code 141 minor_code 19) (Note to programmers: normally, X errors are reported asynchronously; that is, you will receive the error a while after causing it. To debug your program, run it with the --sync command line option to change this behavior. You can then get a meaningful backtrace from your debugger if you break on the gdk_x_error() function.) aborting... Trace/breakpoint trap

• nvidia-glx: works with 1:1.0.9631+2.6.22.2-9.7 (but slow on PIII 500MHz and GeForce4, works best in fullscreen with "no redirect" setting in ccsm)

• flgrx: works (version 8.39.4, running under Xgl, fullscreen or large windows slow)
• question: is the video display under Xv supposed to be transformable? I get video (under -intel), but as an overlay, and it doesn't work when the window is transformed (eg, by switchers).

Missing keybindings

Most keybindings are translated on-the-fly by the integration=true option in libcompizconfig, but the following ones are missing:

• /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/move_to_workspace_1 (from 1-12)
• /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/cycle_{panels,windows,groups}
• /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/cycle_backwards_{panels,windows,groups}
• /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/switch_{group,panels}
• /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/switch_{group,panels}_backwards

Because compiz does not support this functionality. Those are removed from the generated gnome-control-center keybindings capplet.

Settings brainstorming

• disable "Toggle windows" key in "neg" plugin ("Toggle Screen" is enough)
• "wobbly" plugin takes to long to settle currently, this needs to be fixed
• make the plugin that draws the drop shadows only do that for the currently focused window

  • JohanKiviniemi: Why? Shadows under all windows increase usability in my humble but strong opinion. Why not e.g. have a stronger shadow under the focused window instead of removing all the other shadows?

  • MacSlow: I'd second that. If at all it would rather make sense to increase the size of the drop-shadow of the currently focused window, in order to make it appear to be raised even higher than normal.

• ring switcher should draw a rectangle around the current focused window
• having a combination of "expo" and "scale" would be ideal, first activation would run normal "scale", second would go to "expo" mode (kind of zooming out)
• it would be best to make "scale" (expose) the switcher and make it possible to cycle through it with alt-tab and shift-alt-tab. this does not currently show hidden windows and that needs to be added somehow

• don't use dodge as default focus animation for Normal Effects, like currently done in gutsy (Sep 10). it feels like much too much movement for a "basic" effect. -- DenisWashington

• rename "ccsm" to advanced-desktop-effects [done]
• make "rectangle" the new default resize mode and consider adding a new mix between "rectangle" and "scretch" for the future (blurry scretch mode) [done]
• make "expo" go to workspace on double click(left click is used to move windows around), right-click is not optimal as it is lacking on some machines like the macbook pro [done]
• disable "zoom" plugin [done]
• set opacity to 95% in "switcher" plugin [done]
• add "set all back to defaults" button to compizconfig-settings-manager [done]
• "trailfocus" should not be enabled (neither in normal nor in extended effects mode) [done]
• add window edge resistance to "snap" plugin to make it more behave like metacity [done]

• DenisWashington: I did some minor tweaks to Ubuntu's default settings on my machine and found them to enhance my productivity and general feeling of snappiness. These changes might also be good candidates for Ubuntu's default settings, so I'll list them here:

  • Increased the "Speed" setting in the scale plugin to 1.8. This made the feature even more efficient for me.

  • Disabled fade-in effect for menus. I found that I was very slowed down by this because I always automatically waited for the menus to completely appear before using them, even if they are actually usable beforehand (unexperienced users may not know that though). Disabling the animation also allows me to scan menus much faster, for instance when I'm looking for a feature in an application - switching between menus is done at once, not with delay as with the fade-in situation. I naturally kept the fade-out effects, they are not problematic for usability and, uhm, just cool. Changes to archive this are disabling the "fade" plugin (whose tasks seem to be done by the animation plugin anyway - at least I didn't see any regressions yet after disabling it) and removing Menu, DropDownMenu and PopupMenu from the Fade open animation. Edit: The fade plugin probably doesn't have to be disabled if the window matching string is changed from "any" to "everything but DropDownMenu, PopupMenu or Menu". Unfortunately I don't know the matching syntax, so I haven't checked that yet.

  • Reduced the minimize effect's duration to 200. The minimize (especially unminimize) effect's slowness had a large impact on my flow, so much that I even left many windows unminimized as possible to avoid it - which leads to other problems, naturally... with the decreased duration it feels quite fast though. My fear of minimized windows is gone now.

  • Reduced the "Away Position" of the "Glide 1" effect to 0.3. This makes the effect much less flashy yet still noticeable - easier for the eyes and actually nicer-looking IMO.

  • Likewise changed the "Away Position" of "Glide 2" to -0.3. I also changed the angle to 0, which makes "Glide 2" the direct visual complement of "Glide 1" and, even more important, doesn't look like stolen from the close animation of Windows Vista.

  • Use "Zoom" as the open animation for Dialog and ModalDialog. OK, this is probably personal preference, but I believe that the zoom effect draws more attention to an appearing dialog, makes relations between an action and the dialog more obvious (e.g. if you get an save confirmation alert when closing a window, the confirmation dialog seems to come flying _from_ the close button) and, last but not least, looks damn cool.

ToDo

• compiz.wrapper has serious issues with session management
• workspace-viewport mapping still messed up for non N:1 layouts
• sort compiz session managment problem
• when enabling extra-effects, put "shift" on the same keybinding as "application switcher" plugin
• remove crash-hanlder (conflicts with apport)
• talk to upstream about snapping support when moving windows with shift (like metacity)

• feisty -> gutsy transition for people with beryl (should they be automatically transitioned)

• disable mouse-gestures in compiz (iwj) by default
• nvidia has problems with switching to the terminal (CTRL-ALT-F1). either a new nvidia driver or /apps/compiz/general/screen0/options/sync_to_vblank = False fixes it

• patch stuff for the video plugin: http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/compiz/2007-June/002398.html (too much of a task probably)

• Fix kwin fallback https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/compiz/+bug/151005

Compiz performance

• Mobility Radeon 9700 64MB: compiz does not have a good performance, because it is influenced by the CPU usage really too much (a low cpu usage will make compiz animations really slow) and scrolling is really slow (maybe it is the same problem, because when scrolling the cpu is used a bit)