CompositeByDefault
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Launchpad entry: https://features.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/composite-by-default
Packages affected:
Summary
Feisty will have a Composite aware Window Manager installed by default, using either Beryl or Compiz, the community branch of Compiz.
This specification is meant to decide which one of the two will be chosen, and what needs to be done for the chosen WM manager to be considered complete for Feisty.
Rationale
In recent years, most, if not all machines sold have video boards which support 3D acceleration to varying degrees. Linux has had compositing window managers for years now, but Ubuntu has no means to make it easy for users to see visual effects ("bling") easily, and additionaly, all compositing managers currently do not look and behave like a part of the Default desktop, degrading the user experience substantially.
Microsoft Windows Vista[tm] (which will be released later in 2006) and Apple Mac OS X Tiger (released in 2006), both support video Composition and 3D acceleration out of the box, giving these two operating systems a competitive edge over Linux.
Finally, the latest version of competing Linux distributions (Fedora Core, openSUSE, Mandriva, etc) all offer varying degrees of support to either Compiz or Beryl.
We believe, for the reasons described above, that Composite by Default is an Essential feature of Ubuntu Feisty.
Use cases
Scope
Design
Implementation
Code
Data preservation and migration
Unresolved issues