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Who loves eye-candy?
Don’t be afraid to raise your hand.
When I started using Linux two years ago, that was what I expected.
A lot of you have probably seen Compiz Fusion and been (rightfully) fairly impressed by it.
I’ve used it to make others give Linux that second thought.
For starters, just about anything can be configured or customized.
If you use GNOME and want easy access toart.gnome.org, why not install gnome-art?
KDE has similarly easy steps.
One very nifty thing to look into for wallpapers is transparency.
Yes, all of the images on that gnome-look page are of the same wallpaper.
Changing your desktop environment to something completely different is, of course, a possibility.
I just love the look ofEnlightenment 17.
Though it has been in alpha for most of this century, it is incredibly stable.
E17 is the default window manager of theELivedistro, based on Debian.
This is also the environment found on the first releases of the Everex GreenPC and Cloudbook.
Enlightenment is not a composited window manager, though, because it is minimalistic.
Screenlets are just like widgets, gadgets, whatever you want to call them.
This is the same as showing or hiding the Dashboard in OSX.
If you give KDE4 a try, you’ll find that it has native support for widgets.
There’s a little button in the top right corner to add more widgets.
Then, there’sAvant-Window-Navigator, or AWN.
AWN has emerged asthedock for Linux.
Yes, AWN requires compositing.
It’s very customizable.
it’s possible for you to set whatever colors you want, add a texture, whatever.
There are tons of plugins available for AWN in the form ofAWN Extras.
Also, GNOME-Do is very shiny and pretty, so it kind of fits.
And hey, eye-candy can have utility, right?
This friend of mine, like me, has pink as a favorite color.
She wanted pink to be the theme on her laptop.
But, the laptop itself doesn’t have enough pink going on.
This is her white laptop, not her pink EeePC, and that had to be remedied.
So, the other night, I helped her out with it.
Now the system starts up with no gnome-panel.
I suggested that for the KDE on her EeePC she try out theKDE4 Pink Fluffy Bunny theme.
Mackenzie is a college student who likes to promote Linux and Free/Libre Software.
Check out her blog, Ubuntu Linux Tips & Tricks.
