I am very new to Linux and Beryl so can someone explain what Beryl is and how it works. Also if someone gives me some kind of tutorial to use to install beryl effects and the 3D cube and other cool sfuff.
Thank you

We'll first thing, beryl is depreciated. You should use compiz-fusion http://www.opencompositing.org

Beryl/Compiz-Fusion, etc.......They serve no real purpose except for eyecandy.

I tried out compiz fusion and even got it to a usable state, but it's really too unstable for me to use right now. It frequently caused my window decorations to crash, forcing me to switch to another virtual terminal to correct the problem. Plus, if I did switch VTs and then switch back to the original VT, all I get is a blank screen because compiz didn't reset things properly (or maybe it has something to do with my nVidia card, who knows -- but in any event, it works without compiz just fine). Also, the desktops in KDE are a mess when using compiz.

I therefore opted out of using compiz. I must admit that some of its features were genuinely appreciated (some of the features were downright handy) and I miss some of them now -- but not enough for me to sacrifice stability. However, there are several threads available about compiz should you wish to try it out for yourself.

I love beryl/compiz-fusion and now I use it all the time. Just like how I use Microsoft Windows Vista with the cool 3D desktop. I think compiz-fusion is much better than Microsoft's 3D effect and is more customizable.

Compiz might be eye candy, but it is also fun and functional. It has, in some ways, changed how I work with my computers. If only for the zoom function, it's all that!

The only time I turn it off is when I am watching DVD's or videos. It is unstable while running videos, so its a good thing that turning it on and off is easily done with the proper scripting. I even went so far as to set up icons for it on my taskbar. That makes controlling it even easier.

Compiz 0.5.0 ships with Slackware 12, and is installed automatically if you elect to install everything at initial set up. All you need to do is set up a couple scripts, make a few changes in the /etc/xorg.conf file, and it works.

Compiz works better than Vista, doesn't hog as many resources, and runs on machines that would die a slow, ker-chunky death attempting to run Vista, such as my PII 450 file server. Even as slow as that machine is, the ATI Radeon video card runs it fast. It's pretty amazing!

Unfortunately, compiz is imperfect and buggy. However, there are other software packages that are worse.

Blessed be!
Pappy

I found that using menus from menubar in windows was slow. Too slow to do any serious work. It did look good though.

... I'd probably love it. But then, I don't do IM either, and bash+rxvt is the only file manager I'll ever need. Get off my lawn, you crazy kids!!

Seriously, though, "Window List" and "Workplace Switcher" (those are GNOME terms; all WMs have something similar) and Alt-Tab work perfectly well.

eye candy + enhanced IHM possibilities + more efficient use of your computer (unless you want your graphic card to do nothing while your sluggish processor do all the work ?)...
but aside from that, it sure serves no purpose

that about says it. i'm seriously considering stepping down to blackbox or fluxbox -- just because ... it's Linux and I can!!!

OK, so which packages are needed to install Compiz Fusion on Slackware 12.0?

To answer the OP; My system just doesn't feel as "snappy" when Compiz is enabled. For that reason, I only enable it when I want to show it off to someone...

It looks cool but other than that it's just, well, there. Basically it just looks cool.

No thanks, no eye-candy for me. I get the rotating desktop effect when I've had too much to drink.

It's pretty but I just see it as unnecessary and possibly a resource drain. Unless you want to show it off to Windows users it doesn't appear to have any productivity value. I have 3ddesktop and it's enough for me and is enough to "wow" some Windows users.

GPUs are way more powerful than CPUs for this kind of task, so I don't get how people can say it should be a resource drain O.o It is so stupid to let your graphic card do almost nothing 99% of the time even though it could relieve your CPU from a part of its work !
Now, compiz is still in its early ages (even though I have been using it for 2 years, more or less) and can consume more resources than it should, but the point is it is moving in the right direction, and so for both efficiency AND usability/productivity ! (btw, if you don't want to use the added functionalities, it's totally fine, but don't say there are none because it's just wrong)