[plug] Novell improves graphics on Linux

[Randal Adamson]

<snip>
08/02/2006 08:02:26
Novell Tuesday released improvements to the way Linux handles graphics and
video -- a move aimed at making the operating system more attractive to
mainstream desktop users. 
The improvements to the XGL graphics subsystem that underlies Linux will
help it render images faster and improve 3-D graphics and video for users on
existing hardware, said Charlie Mancusi-Ungaro, director of marketing for
Linux and open-source at Novell. "This puts Linux at the forefront of where
graphical desktop interfaces are going," he said. 
XGL, which stands for X over OpenGL, is a version of the two-decade-old X
Window System popular on Unix operating systems. It does not actually
provide the desktop interface itself, instead supporting Linux desktop
environments such as KDE or GNOME. 
At Novell's Web site, users can see videos previewing some of the
enhancements provided by XGL. They include transparent application or
browser windows so that icons underneath are still visible, windows that can
quickly shrink to thumbnail-size while videos continue to play, and -- for
power users running many applications -- the ability to open up to four
desktops on a 3-D cube interface that users can rotate for program access. 
The improvements will be available to Linux users running PCs with 3-D
graphics cards and relatively up-to-date hardware, meaning computers that
have been bought in the last 18 months or so, said Mancusi-Ungaro. 
Jakob Nielsen, a usability expert with Nielsen Norman Group, applauded the
transparency and extra desktop features. But he was less impressed with the
ability for application windows to be dragged halfway between desktops and
viewed in 3-D. He called it "a great way to show off graphical horsepower
but basically useless." 
Nielsen said Linux's reputation for having a user interface that's less
attractive and harder to use than those in Apple's Mac OS X or Microsoft's
Windows is well-earned, and a natural result of its technical heritage. 
"Linux has always been able to attract great programming talent, but not as
many talented usability people," Nielsen said. He noted that it's often
difficult in the free-wheeling open-source culture to veto new features that
add marginal utility at the cost of increased complexity. "To have a simple
unified experience that is good for the average user requires someone to say
no," he said. 
The features enabled by XGL throw out a preemptive challenge to the upcoming
Windows Vista, which Microsoft is promising will have similar new features
and more in its Aero graphical user interface. 
While Microsoft has long suffered from a tendency to overstuff features at
the cost of ease of use, said Nielsen, it is "taking a new approach" with
Vista. 
Development of XGL is led by David Reveman, a Swedish software developer
with notoriously eccentric work habits even by programmers' standards.
Reveman works in the top floor of a barn in rural Sweden, according to
Wikipedia, with co-workers from Novell flying to the country every two to
three months to collect code and post it online. 
The XGL source code is available for download by open-source programmers at
Freedesktop.org. The improvements will be available as an option for users
installing Version 10 of Novell Linux Desktop, which is due out by the
summer, Mancusi-Ungaro said. But because the code is being made available as
open-source, he expects XGL to be adopted by other flavors of Linux such as
Red Hat or Ubuntu.
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