Beryl Feature Spotlight
Introduction
This is a feature spotlight to let you know about the many things Beryl will currently provide you with. Please note that this will include features both available and not available in Compiz, which Beryl was forked from. This is not a complete feature list, just a general overview of the features available in Beryl. A more complete feature list can be found on the weekly blog updates. There is also a new users guide here that contained a more complete howto for using beryl.Scale Effect
> OS X Expose Like Effect
Beryl allows users to activate the scale effect to find and switch between
windows easily. Switching between windows using the scale effect is as
easy as clicking on the thumbnail you want and Beryl will automatically pull up
the selected window.
> Live Window Previews
As is the staple of all Beryl Effects, the windows show in the Scale effect
are live previews. Movies continue to play, websites update. By right clicking
on any given window, it will be zoomed back to full size for closer
inspection.
> Drag and Drop Support
Dragging and dropping documents from folder to folder has never been
easier. Overlapping windows are no longer an issue, just grab the document
you wish to drag and drop, initiate scale with your mouse, and hover over the
window you wish to drop it on. Easy...
Enhanced Switcher
Alt+Tab switcher displays live preview thumbnails to make it easier to visually identify your applications...
> Improved Visual Identification
The new switcher replaces the old boring icon based switcher. Now providing the
user with live previews of their windows. Switching between many windows of the
same app with Alt+Tab no longer requires reading the sometimes ambiguous window
name.
> Better Selectiong Control
By pressing Alt+Tab you can easily browse through windows on your current viewport.
Or if you wish to browse through all windows on all desktops, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Tab
will allow you to do so.
> See Only What You Want
If you wish, the new switcher can be configured to dim all windows but the active one
making your entire desktop your switcher. If you switch to a window not on your current
viewport, the cube will rotate to show you.
Desktop Cube
> Visualize Your Workspace
The human mind thinks very well in 3 dimensions, so why limit yourself to only two?
Beryl can display your viewports as a cube, making it easier to organize your desktop.
For the diehards though, the cube is unobtrusive as possible for these users.
> See Through The Clutter
Optionally the cube may be turned transparent to allow a user to see whats on the
other side of the cube at all times. This feature is working but is planned to be in a
future release.
> See Even More
For some the cube doesn't present enough information, only really showing the user
one workspace at a time. In these situations it can be unfolded to show several viewports
at once in a film strip style view by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Page Down.
Window Animations
> See Whats Going On
Just like metacity before it, Beryl will show you exactly where your windows are going
when you minimize them. Animations are also available for close, create, show, and window
shading.
> Do It How You Want It
Beryl comes loaded with 10 different animations to choose from. You can have your windows
simply fade in and out, or have them destroyed in a fiery inferno when they are closed. It is all
up to you, you can even have it randomly select an animation each time.
> Shade Windows
Like many window managers before it, Beryl can shade windows to save on desktop space.
Beryl comes with several animations for window shading, from a simple role up, to a accordian
style folding. Once again, it is all up to you.
Window Effects
> Transparency, Brightness, and Saturation
The transparency, brightness, and saturation of a window can easily be changed simply by
right clicking on its title bar and setting it in the menu. It can also be set via mouse bindings.
> Gnome Terminal True Transparency
With Beryl providing a proper composited environment, Gnome Terminal can now use
true transparency. That means you can see the windows below it instead of a copy of
the wallpaper below it.
> Negative Windows
Like the negative of a film camera, the color values of windows can be inverted. This simple
inversion makes it much easier to read text in many situations and is often quite easier on the
eyes. Neg is as simple as Super+n.
Zoom In
> Forget Your Reading Glasses
Websites keep using smaller and smaller text as screen resolutions keep getting bigger
and bigger. Reading on the computer without binoculars is getting harder and harder, but
Beryl can give you a virtual telescope!
> Zoomed Interaction
Beryl offers a proportional zoom that allows users to interact with their desktop while zoomed,
working with tiny text, and tiny widgets was never easier. Super + Mouse Scroll is all it takes
to help your eyes out.
> Future Hopes
Sometime in the future Beryl hopes to implement the GNOME Mag API, giving proper zoom
support to the visually impaired. This combined with the current Neg plugin *inverts the color
values on your screen* is a very potent combination.
Blur Effects
> Eliminate the Clutter
One of the longstanding issues of transparent terminals been that reading the text over whatever
was behind it became very difficult. Beryl allows users to blur what is behind their
windows effectively removing hard lines that making reading difficult.
> Read Your Titlebar
Blur can also be used to blur what is behind your titlebar if your decorations are transparent.
In fact, it can blur behind just about any transparent window, even those using a non-standard shape
such as Cairo-Clock.
> Take It Easy GPU
Blur strives to be easier on the GPU by taking advantage of caching techniques and having
many different shaders of variable strength to allow lower end cards to work more smoothly.
Blur can even be used on cards without pixel shaders.
Window Decorations
> Emerald: True Beryl Themes
Emerald is a window decorator with minimal GTK requirements that enables fully transparent window
decorations. It is one of the few window decorators that can be completely themed without ever
touching an XML file.
> Heliodor: Metacity Themes
Heliodor provides exactly what the header suggests, metacity theme support. Heliodor is not yet
feature complete but works on a basic level, and in the future will support basic transparency
settings.
> Aquamarine: KWin Themes
Aquamarine provides support for KDE users who dont want to give up their KWin theme. Featuring
full KWin theme support as well as direct integration with KControl, users don't have to know
the difference.







