The [siren]compositing[/siren] window manager wars: Compiz vs. Mutter vs. Kwin vs. Xfwm
 

Which *compositing* window manager do you guys like best? Please explain your votes IN DETAIL.

KDE or Gnome.

Whichever happens to come with the default install.

No eye candy crap (like Compiz, Beryl or, for that matter, Vista Aero) on top ;)

Small is beautiful.

PS:
For remote access, xfce all the way ;)

well... actually, i use fvwm2.

all i need is a graphical space i can put xterm and stuff onto. i do like having the multiple desktops (is that the right term?), so i can segregate my work. one for admin (calendar, todo list, e-mail, one for emacs and a shell window, one for web browsing, etc).

Openbox & xcompmgr

I did mention *compositing* window manager wars, not just "window manager wars". This thread is *ONLY* for people who *WANT* all those effects!

I use kwin simply because kde has come a long way in desktop effects.

Yeah, I kind of agree. I kind of find Compiz hard to use; in particular, trying to take a screenshot of the Compiz desktop cube is especially hard. Why? The only way to show the cube is to rotate it -- automatically. Instead of the drag-and-drop desktop switching that Kwin uses (drag the cube to switch between desktops and then press <Enter>), in Compiz you press Ctrl+Alt+Right and the cube switches automatically. This may sound convenient, but trying to take a screenshot of the cube while it is in motion causes the screenshot of the cube to be distorted -- as in the cube looks like cube fragments.

Of course, with Mutter you don't have a cube at all, which I find even worse. However, Mutter does have the plus side of being able to draw a desktop shell without having to fork the window manager, while Compiz doesn't have that option.

That's why I don't see how Compiz could replace Mutter especially in Unity which is essentially drawn using Mutter. Unless you literally fork Compiz to a mainstream-incompatible point, it's impossible. In particular, you would need to literally clone Clutter using the OpenGL functions within Compiz and then add JSON support manually -- very painstaking indeed.

Overall, my opinion is the average "whichever WM suits you best" situation. If you want to be able to have the utmost in visual effects with the added ability to be able to take visible screenshots, use Kwin. If you want extreme visual effects + simplicity, use Compiz. If you are a developer and want to be able to customize how the WM shell looks on your desktop, you have no choice but to use Mutter. I'd say the result is pretty even.

Or you could just grab the desktop with the middle mouse button (or control+alt+mouse1) and drag the cube around, taking a screenshot whenever you want with the PrintScreen key).

Adam

Here's the problem with that: I have a netbook. Yes, I know it's kind of odd to have Compiz on a netbook, but there is no middle mouse button on *any* size laptop. So obviously that won't work.

In Kwin, you actually can drag the cube with *any* mouse button after pressing a certain key combination, which I find *much* easier to work with.

Which leaves you with the control+alt+mouse1 option I mentioned previously, and which you can use anywhere on the screen to grab the cube.

Just look at the attached image.

cube fragments? There are no cube fragments in that picture. And that was taken on a laptop with no middle mouse button. Quite simple and easy.

So, frankly, you were wrong when you said:

Adam

The quality of the picture is rather discouraging. Is this your low resolution display or something else? It looks like 800x600 resolution.

The display resolution is the same as the resolution of the image, 1280x800.

Adam

Strange. It is a problem to rasterize (pixelize?) 45 degree lines but on your picture they look not well. What are the reasons for that?

I'm really not sure what you're referring to.

Adam

Right, only two buttons on my laptop, but middle mousebutton is emulated by pressing both buttons together.