Yesterday, Mandriva released a new version of their 2007.0 live CD. This version features the Metisse "Metisse is not a 3D desktop" GUI. Once again, Mandriva is the first to release a live distro. with this GUI installed and ready to go.
I blog a little about it here and the Mandriva web page says more about it here.
It's different from AIGLX/Xgl and Compiz/Beryl in a few ways. First, you don't need a 3D accelerated graphics card to get this "3D" desktop working.
Also, Metisse, in my opinion, is not just eye-candy. It actually has made some innovations in the way you interface with the desktop and applications. I really like the two mouse-click copy and paste feature.
Right now, Metisse only works well with Gnome (from what I've read so far). But Mandriva says that a KDE version of it will be shortly after KDE 4.0 arrives.
I'm not a big fan of Gnome, but I like Metisse so far and it may just make Gnome worth my while. I like it more than my AIGLX desktop, no doubt.
Now, let's count the days before all the other distros. follow Mandriva's lead, once again.
Once again, Mandriva blazes a new trail...
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reminds me of the Linux 3D window manager. This is so great, the videos look really appealing... downloading the ISO.
This proves the total attitude about the distro of creating the best user experience which I think they have. Mandriva by far has been experimenting with bleeding edge technology and put it to the common demonitator.
They were the first to put a GUI installer, to try ZeroConf, try Mandriva Network, SMART package manager, XGL, and now they come with this. Much props to my favorite distro.
Big props to mandriva, downloading right now. Also the MCNLive was just released according to distrowatch.
This proves the total attitude about the distro of creating the best user experience which I think they have. Mandriva by far has been experimenting with bleeding edge technology and put it to the common demonitator.
They were the first to put a GUI installer, to try ZeroConf, try Mandriva Network, SMART package manager, XGL, and now they come with this. Much props to my favorite distro.
Big props to mandriva, downloading right now. Also the MCNLive was just released according to distrowatch.
Alexandro COLORADO
I just finished watching the four vids here...
http://www.mandriva.com/en/projects/metisse
I have to say those are the worst unintuitive desktop effects I have seen so far. With Compiz/Beryl effects I think "cool, that effect makes sense for that action", but with Metisse I'm just confused. It definitely is different and unique, though.
http://www.mandriva.com/en/projects/metisse
I have to say those are the worst unintuitive desktop effects I have seen so far. With Compiz/Beryl effects I think "cool, that effect makes sense for that action", but with Metisse I'm just confused. It definitely is different and unique, though.
To each his own. I didn't know what the heck was going on with all those sliding boxes in vid 3.dann wrote:hmmmm, I thought some of those effects were pretty darn cool and some were very exciting! I thought the desktop overall look like ass. Anyway, the rolling back of a window to access the content underneath it and the angling of windows side by side can be very practical.
DEJA VU!!!! didnt they ask the same thing to the berryl developers some weeks back.greggh wrote:I have to say those are the worst unintuitive desktop effects I have seen so far. With Compiz/Beryl effects I think "cool, that effect makes sense for that action", but with Metisse I'm just confused. It definitely is different and unique, though.
I guess I have to agree on the 'mirror' stance. But I do find useful the kompose-like utility. I always do similar things on XFCE4 to drag a window from one screen to the next. I find that very useful.
Most effects however are similar to the wiggle windows of compiz and a 'grid' instead of a cube. But the fact that it doesnt need 3d acceleration, it might be enough to put this live cd in any computer and make those vista fans be jealous.
Alexandro COLORADO
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I like the copy and paste effect, myself, but the mirror effect and a few others seem completely inane.
The cool thing is that it works without 3D acceleration. There's one sentence I don't understand: “Available under the GPL Licence and in exclusivity for Mandriva Linux.” GPL and exclusivity don't usually go together. It shouldn't have surprised me, but a little reading said that Metisse is fvwm with the metisse compositing plugin. Man, I always knew fvwm was extensible, but wasn't expecting something like that.
The cool thing is that it works without 3D acceleration. There's one sentence I don't understand: “Available under the GPL Licence and in exclusivity for Mandriva Linux.” GPL and exclusivity don't usually go together. It shouldn't have surprised me, but a little reading said that Metisse is fvwm with the metisse compositing plugin. Man, I always knew fvwm was extensible, but wasn't expecting something like that.
Vim is beautiful
After doing some playing around, here's what I've discovered so far...
Metisse will run (a little clunky, but run none the less) on older hardware (tested it on 700MHz) without the need of any special graphics card, but you need RAM. On any system less than 512MB, I had problems - that is, very slow response. Put it on a system with 512MB or RAM or more and Mandriva Metisse will be happy.
Now, as for the "3D" effects: I find them really useful.
I love the two mouse click copy and paste. You have two windows open and want to copy text from one to the other? You click and drag to highlight the text you wish to copy, then mouse over to the window you want to paste in and click your middle mouse button/wheel. Done.
Being able to read - and use - two windows that have been rotated/angled to face one another I find really useful. Having the mouse in auto-focus mode takes a bit of getting used, but it's something that enhances the usefulness of Metisse. Just by mousing over the window (of the two I have facing each other on my screen) I can work within it.
I do a lot of data entry at the office and along with that comes a lot of switching between application windows. If I set up my Metisse windows properly, I don't need to flip window views anymore. I have all the data I need to see on one screen and I can switch between the windows/apps and work within them both and still see everything. My productivity goes up and my frustration level goes down. Good stuff.
I also use GIMP quite a bit at home. One of my issues with GIMP is that, when I'm working with a rather large image, the tool boxes get covered up. So, more window layering occurs and my ability to see all of the windows in use is reduced. But now, with Metisse, I can angle the GIMP tool boxes in such a way that still allows me to see all of their buttons and controls, but allows more room for the window that contains the image I'm working on.
The 3D spinning cube of Compiz/Beryl is cool, but I really like the bird's-eye-view of the Metisse nine desktop grid. Much easier to move application windows between the desktop this way. And a cool thing is, even in zoom-out view, you can still fully use the applications themselves. Okay, I can't actually read what's on a webpage when zoomed out, but I thought it was neat that I could still scroll through the page and click on the menu buttons.
Mandriva Metisse has given me more workspace on my desktop and I didn't have to go buy a larger monitor with more resolution to do it.
When I compare this to Compiz/Beryl, I have to say I prefer the abilities of Metisse. The wobbly windows and spinning cube are fun, but the only features of Compiz/Beryl that make working on my desktop better/easier are the active window transparency and zoom-out/Expose view. Which are great; don't get me wrong.
Another thing I like about Metisse over Compiz/Beryl is that I can run it on systems that don't have a 3D accelerated graphics card. I just need to up the RAM in a few machines if I want to have Metisse running on them.
I don't know what use I would get from looking at my applications from behind or upside down yet. But, I'm still playing.
I'll agree that there's probably less "WOW" effect with Metisse, when compared to Compiz/Beryl, but in terms of functionality and usability, Metisse is clearly the leader... in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how it develops. With Mandriva making it part of their 2007.1 release in a couple of months, I'm sure more people will become interested in Metisse; Just as they did for more user friendly set-up and configuration tools (something else Mandriva/Mandrake brought to the Linux desktop those many years ago).
Metisse will run (a little clunky, but run none the less) on older hardware (tested it on 700MHz) without the need of any special graphics card, but you need RAM. On any system less than 512MB, I had problems - that is, very slow response. Put it on a system with 512MB or RAM or more and Mandriva Metisse will be happy.
Now, as for the "3D" effects: I find them really useful.
I love the two mouse click copy and paste. You have two windows open and want to copy text from one to the other? You click and drag to highlight the text you wish to copy, then mouse over to the window you want to paste in and click your middle mouse button/wheel. Done.
Being able to read - and use - two windows that have been rotated/angled to face one another I find really useful. Having the mouse in auto-focus mode takes a bit of getting used, but it's something that enhances the usefulness of Metisse. Just by mousing over the window (of the two I have facing each other on my screen) I can work within it.
I do a lot of data entry at the office and along with that comes a lot of switching between application windows. If I set up my Metisse windows properly, I don't need to flip window views anymore. I have all the data I need to see on one screen and I can switch between the windows/apps and work within them both and still see everything. My productivity goes up and my frustration level goes down. Good stuff.
I also use GIMP quite a bit at home. One of my issues with GIMP is that, when I'm working with a rather large image, the tool boxes get covered up. So, more window layering occurs and my ability to see all of the windows in use is reduced. But now, with Metisse, I can angle the GIMP tool boxes in such a way that still allows me to see all of their buttons and controls, but allows more room for the window that contains the image I'm working on.
The 3D spinning cube of Compiz/Beryl is cool, but I really like the bird's-eye-view of the Metisse nine desktop grid. Much easier to move application windows between the desktop this way. And a cool thing is, even in zoom-out view, you can still fully use the applications themselves. Okay, I can't actually read what's on a webpage when zoomed out, but I thought it was neat that I could still scroll through the page and click on the menu buttons.
Mandriva Metisse has given me more workspace on my desktop and I didn't have to go buy a larger monitor with more resolution to do it.
When I compare this to Compiz/Beryl, I have to say I prefer the abilities of Metisse. The wobbly windows and spinning cube are fun, but the only features of Compiz/Beryl that make working on my desktop better/easier are the active window transparency and zoom-out/Expose view. Which are great; don't get me wrong.
Another thing I like about Metisse over Compiz/Beryl is that I can run it on systems that don't have a 3D accelerated graphics card. I just need to up the RAM in a few machines if I want to have Metisse running on them.
I don't know what use I would get from looking at my applications from behind or upside down yet. But, I'm still playing.
I'll agree that there's probably less "WOW" effect with Metisse, when compared to Compiz/Beryl, but in terms of functionality and usability, Metisse is clearly the leader... in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how it develops. With Mandriva making it part of their 2007.1 release in a couple of months, I'm sure more people will become interested in Metisse; Just as they did for more user friendly set-up and configuration tools (something else Mandriva/Mandrake brought to the Linux desktop those many years ago).
I think what they mean is that no other distro. is offering it yet. Or, they've made a special build of it, perhaps, for their distro.
Anyway, for the time being, Mandriva's distro. is the only one, so far, offering Metisse as the default interface on a live CD.
Anyway, for the time being, Mandriva's distro. is the only one, so far, offering Metisse as the default interface on a live CD.
Vogateer wrote:I like the copy and paste effect, myself, but the mirror effect and a few others seem completely inane.
The cool thing is that it works without 3D acceleration. There's one sentence I don't understand: “Available under the GPL Licence and in exclusivity for Mandriva Linux.” GPL and exclusivity don't usually go together. It shouldn't have surprised me, but a little reading said that Metisse is fvwm with the metisse compositing plugin. Man, I always knew fvwm was extensible, but wasn't expecting something like that.
Thanks, Jsusanka. I did and I hope you had a good holiday as well. Been busy promoting the home business. Got a small handful of new Linux clients during December (home and business). Not enough to be self employed, but fun none the less.
Viva Mandriva!
Viva Mandriva!
jsusanka wrote:hey judland - good to hear from you again
hope you had a good holiday and new year
I will definitely check out this live cd and what mandriva has done.
thanks for tipping us off.
So, when are people going to start making this kind of stuff for kde? Doesn't is seem strange to anyone that the "simple" desktop is the one that has all sorts engines like these being written more-or-less specifically for it? In any case, I have to admit that I like the example in the cut-paste clip, but there's no way I'd run gnome just to use it. I don't really get the rest of it.
Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased; thus do we refute entropy.
--Spider Robinson
--Spider Robinson