The new improved Cairo Dock

English Soapbox
#1

Hey Guys,

I’m out of the loop most of the time but I’m glad I’m using Cairo dock again.

Now I stopped using it, because it was pretty crude but it was notably fast yet stable. After my system’s re-installed I never bothered to put it back on. Now that I’m using KDE 4.3, I wanted to test it out.

One thing I can say for the new one is WOW. Its really fast and stable. Not like the previous 2 versions just before this release. The new UI is pretty simple and impressively easy to use. Plus, I got it setup in my fastest time yet.

One other thing was some new plugins that I really enjoy. Like the specific icon effects or the other effects that really make it look nice.

For those out there who really don’t like to use eye candy because it slows down your computer, this is one thats very easy on the memory and CPU usage

I’ve attached a couple screenshots for those to look at my setup.

http://thumbnails17.imagebam.com/4673/8d94c546722366.gif](http://www.imagebam.com/image/8d94c546722366)
http://thumbnails11.imagebam.com/4673/f9b38146722368.gif](http://www.imagebam.com/image/f9b38146722368)

Normal Use:
http://thumbnails4.imagebam.com/4673/baad5d46722364.gif](http://thumbnails4.imagebam.com/4673/baad5d46722364.gif](http://www.imagebam.com/image/baad5d46722364)](http://www.imagebam.com/image/baad5d46722364))

Just one thing. Does KDE 4.3 use any equivalent to Direct X10. I would really like to offload the graphics processing to my GPU instead of my CPU.

#2

No Direct X10 is windows only

#3

You’re after OpenGL. DirectX is MicroSoft only.

OpenGL (Open Graphics Language) is what everyone else uses (think Quake or Unreal or Enemy Territory for games).

KDE4 (and Gnome and others) use openGL if your hardware supports it - and you have the drivers. This is used for the desktop effects like wobbly windows.

Not sure whether cairo dock uses openGL if it can, or if it does it all in software regardless. You could ask on their website/mailinglist?

#4

@sabbyman - How on earth do you use that desktop? I need sunglasses just to look at it ;).

If I’m not ADHD already, I sure would be after using that for more than a few seconds rotfl!

#5

> @sabbyman - How on earth do you use that desktop? I need sunglasses
> just to look at it ;).

That was my thought. LOL.
Definitely not a minimalist. :slight_smile:

#6

It uses OpenGL, as glx-dock. I use it. The important thing is to have a compositing desktop/window manager/whatever-it-is so the transparency works.

#7 
Usage:
  cairo-dock [OPTION...] Cairo-Dock

Help Options:
  -?, --help                Show help options

Application Options:
  -l, --log                 log verbosity (debug,message,warning,critical,error) default is warning
  -g, --glitz               force Glitz backend (hardware acceleration for cairo, needs a glitz-enabled libcairo)
  -c, --cairo               force cairo backend
  -o, --opengl              **force OpenGL backend**
#8

Huh, thats interesting. So glitz is I suppose openGL accelerated cairo, whereas opengl backend skips cairo entirely and uses OGL straight? Assuming both work equally well, whats the point of using cairo in the first place?

#9

Both are hardware acceleration backends for cairo dock, I believe. The glitz backend has been around for some time, the OGL came recently. I suspect glitz is deprecated in favour of OGL.

#10

Thanks for the Info guys about opengl. I feel better knowing how that works.

@growbag

I don’t really stay on the desktop. I try to keep the windows open and use all my “desktops” (not activities) to do as many things as I want LOL. I hate being a minimalist when I have the resources to do it without slowing down the machine. rotfl!rotfl!

#11

Hi:

I’ve recently installed glx-dock. It works pretty fine, but I’m finding some problems I don’t know how to solve (Using Gnome & OpenSuse 11.2):

1 - The shortcuts applet didn’t take my Nautilus bookmarks.
2 - The quick browser applet shows my entire home directory, but when I click on a specific item (say, a file name or “Open this folder”) nothing would happen.

Thanks

#12

Thanks for the info on the update. Man, this version is head and shoulders above what I remember from the last time I played with Cairo.

The config tools are much better, and even the initial setup a lot smarter about what it includes.

Awesome!