User Interface Tricks

Next for my laptop linux install, I'm playing with compiz-fusion. This page from Lifehacker shows some of the neat effects, and I found a page at the How To Forge that explains what to install (I skipped the video card section).

No problems! I enabled some extra things on the configuration application, and they all seem to be working well except for the Expose effect. I especially like the super task switcher.

Next, I wanted to setup a dock at the bottom of the screen. Avant Window Navigator seems to be the thing, and a thread in Ubuntu Forums explains it all. AWN requires xserver-xgl, which in turn requires a 3D card. Now, I'm sure my built-in Intel video system is not 3D, but I figured I'd try it anyway. The dock worked pretty well, and some of the compiz-fusion effects were a little quicker, but window drawing, moving, and especially scrolling were dog slow. I played around a little, but ended up removing both. Oh well!