KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

DrTankMC · 2009-03-18 06:57:01

Hello i am new to the forums and i've been using Arch for a few months now, but i have a couple of questions.

I was a hardcore KDE user in the 3.X days, but when 4.0 first launched i was confused and shocked, so i decided to give Gnome a try and its pretty darn nice, and i have been using it for awhile now. I just did a fresh install with KDEmod 4.2.1 to see if things have changed and i'm a bit confused.

1. What is the relationship between the effects in kde4 and the old-school method still used in Gnome (fusion-icon, emerald, compiz-config settings manager)? In gnome i managed to get 99% of everthing working with my Nvidia card on this same pc, but KDE4 i am confused about how to set these options from the CCSM. These options were essential on Gnome to get the effects tear-free and to get video output tear-free.

2. Can I use the old method on KDE4? The old method has 20X more effects to choose from. Any drawbacks to that method?

I won't hesitate to go back to Gnome if i can't get everything working, but it would be nice to use KDE again, as this release seems to be less buggy.

Thanks!

brazzmonkey · 2009-03-18 10:17:57

Wiki's your friend: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Compiz_Fusion#KDE

Rasi · 2009-03-18 10:43:33

kwins effects are faster and more integrated than using compiz on kde.
also the useful plugins have mostly been ported to kwin, the rubbish has been left out

b9anders · 2009-03-18 10:54:18

DrTankMC wrote:

Hello i am new to the forums and i've been using Arch for a few months now, but i have a couple of questions.
I was a hardcore KDE user in the 3.X days, but when 4.0 first launched i was confused and shocked, so i decided to give Gnome a try and its pretty darn nice, and i have been using it for awhile now. I just did a fresh install with KDEmod 4.2.1 to see if things have changed and i'm a bit confused.
1. What is the relationship between the effects in kde4 and the old-school method still used in Gnome (fusion-icon, emerald, compiz-config settings manager)? In gnome i managed to get 99% of everthing working with my Nvidia card on this same pc, but KDE4 i am confused about how to set these options from the CCSM. These options were essential on Gnome to get the effects tear-free and to get video output tear-free.

They are not the same. Although many of the effects are similar, the native effects are provided by kwin and do not require compiz at all. Hence you can't use ccsm to set these.

2. Can I use the old method on KDE4? The old method has 20X more effects to choose from. Any drawbacks to that method?

Yes you can. In systemsettings under standard applications there is also an option for you to set whether kde should use kwin or another installed window manager (such as compiz) as the standard window manager. You can also use fusion-icon.

The drawbacks are that the integretation is not as smooth. You won't be able to get the same integrated miniature preview of launchers and open apps in the panel and the pager plasmoid doesn't recognise compiz workspaces. If your taskbar as sorted by desktops, that might also be problematic.

Last edited by b9anders (2009-03-18 10:55:27)

bwh1969 · 2009-03-18 12:29:54

What I like about the kwin effects is that it works on systems with crappy video cards that were not supported with compiz. Rather than just using OpenGL, it can also use Xrender to create the effects. I find the latter is faster, even on one machine I have that has an OpenGL capable card.

Compiz, though cool looking, was a pain in the a$$ to get working on many machines. KDE4.2 seems to "fallback" on its prior settings if the configuration won't work on your computer.

Damnshock · 2009-03-18 14:12:34

Rasi wrote:

kwins effects are faster and more integrated than using compiz on kde.
also the useful plugins have mostly been ported to kwin, the rubbish has been left out

Faster? Well, it is unusable for me with an Intel 945GM although compiz isn't it (much much smoother than kwin though).

I tend to blame the intel drivers anyway...

DrTankMC · 2009-03-18 18:18:57

Thanks for the replies!

I guess my next question would be, has anyone managed to get the effects/video output tear free with an Nvidia card? I can certainly do this in Gnome and in legacy kde3.

Also I don't agree that the "rubbish" effects were removed when kde4 made its own effects. These kde4 effects are laughable compared to compiz, especially the cube. Also the magic lamp and exploding windows are laughable.

Thanks!

DrTankMC · 2009-03-21 23:23:17

Thanks for trying to help, but i decided to go back to Gnome, and everything is working 100% as it should.

I won't mark this solved yet as i'm sure others have similar problems/questions and can discuss them here.

Ranguvar · 2009-03-22 00:28:01

Compiz works fine in KDE, just so you know. You can disable the KWin effects and use the Wiki to setup Compiz on KDE. It's not specific to GNOME by any means.

superstoned · 2009-03-22 14:22:21

The kwin effects work fine here, Geforce 6600.
compositing type - OpenGL
Keep window thumbnails: Always
OpenGL mode: Texture from Pixmap
enabled direct rendering and VSync.

xorg.conf has some crap too, nothing you won't find in pretty much every wiki about nvidia drivers & compositing.

kaola_linux · 2009-03-23 02:11:11

kwin works ok also on my Acer Aspire One with Intel GMA 950..:) I kinda like it because it's already integrated on kde and no more extra dependencies...:)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-03-18 06:57:01

KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#2 2009-03-18 10:17:57

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#3 2009-03-18 10:43:33

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#4 2009-03-18 10:54:18

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#5 2009-03-18 12:29:54

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#6 2009-03-18 14:12:34

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#7 2009-03-18 18:18:57

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#8 2009-03-21 23:23:17

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#9 2009-03-22 00:28:01

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#10 2009-03-22 14:22:21

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

#11 2009-03-23 02:11:11

Re: KDE4 question - Built-in effects compared to compiz/fusion icon/emeral

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