Install Compiz Fusion and Emerald in Fedora 14 Laughlin

The procedure to install Compiz and Emerald window decorator on Fedora 14 Laughlin is quite simple. If you are able to enable desktop effects from the System > Preferences > Desktop Effects then you can enjoy all the features of Compiz and Emerald with your Fedora installation. For compiz and desktop effects to work you need to have 3D hardware acceleration supported by your video card driver, with Fedora 14 this was not an issue as the ATI Radeon X1300 on my old laptop was supported out of the box.

To install Compiz, Emerald and other essential components, do su in a terminal to become root and then do the following to install Compiz

yum install compiz compiz-gnome emerald emerald-themes fusion-icon compiz-fusion-extras compiz-fusion-extras-gnome compizconfig-backend-gconf

Answer yes to the query regarding downloading the additional packages. Wait for the installation to finish.

Now launch the Compiz Fusion Icon application from the Application > System Tools menu. Now you should see a blue square icon in your taskbar like this

Now you can change the setting of Compiz Fusion, by launching the settings manger by right clicking on the blue Fusion icon shown above. Also you can select between Metacity and Emerald Window decorators from the same Menu. Emerald themes can be downloaded from here.

The Compiz Settings manager looks like this, you can choose between various options by clicking and unclicking the boxes.

I am listing down some of the popular choices, these also help enhance the general work flow and UI experience.

1. Expose effect (you take your mouse to a chosen corner and you get Mac like Expose effect): For this to work all you need is the Scale plugin inside Window Management settings selected, which is the case by default.

2. Viewport Switching (switch / flip between your virtual workspace or desktop by rotating mouse wheel): Just tick the Viewport Switcher option and you should be able to switch between viewports by mouse wheel rotation.

3. Desktop Wall  to Desktop Cube in Compiz: Just enable the plugin by first un-ticking the Desktop Wall and then ticking the Desktop Cube option. Also tick Rotate Cube and 3D Windows options for enhanced effects. If you have enabled Viewport Switching as described above, you can switch between desktops by rotating mouse wheel, and the desktop flips over like a rotating Cube. Now to get the full 3D view of your Workspace, hold Ctrl+Alt and left click anywhere on the desktop and while holding the left mouse button move the mouse to see your workspace turn in to a virtual polyhedron. You might also want to change the cube caps and Skydome (from Cube settings) to make it look cooler.

Finally, to ensure that the Compiz Fusion settings are loaded on its own at every boot up, you need to add the following in System > Preferences > Startup Applications

Click on Add button to add the fusion-icon as a startup application. Now all your compiz settings would be loaded automatically at every boot.

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