Flashy Vista-like Effects for Free

11 Mar, 2007 Computers, Technology

Yes this may seem too good to be true, but it’s true. You can get those flashy effects that Windows Vista has but without the several hundred dollar price tag, or the heavy hardware requirements. How’s that possible you say? Well all you need to do is download an install a free piece of software call Beryl. Beryl unfortuantely only runs on Linux operating systems right, but one thing to offset the lack of Windows support is the fact that both Beryl and a Linux operating system are free!

The Linux operating systems are all designed with novice users in mind, so anyone new to Linux can use the OS. The Beryl website offers scripts and tutorials that make it easy for anyone to install Beryl in a matter of minutes.

The thing that separates Beryl apart from Windows Vista effects is that it can do Windows Vista effects, but also a wide range of explosive, eye popping, outwards effects. Not only that, but it can also do subtle, smooth effects. The amount of effects you can do is almost limitless. One of the most interesting features I found from Beryl is the virtual desktop manager. When you want to switch between desktops or get an overview of what is running on each desktop, you can arrange them into a cube, and rotate them on will. You can also move windows from one face of the cube to another, and make the windows pop out, so you can see which is on top of which.

Some of you with older PCs might be starting to get nervous now. You probably are wondering what kind of hardware you are going to run. Beryl does not require the hardware Vista requires to run its effects. Infact you can run it on a Pentium 3, and it will still run fine. That’s how efficient the code is! So for those who want it, you can get Beryl at the links below.

Beryl: http://www.beryl-project.org/