From 4eb91809463d1237418d02b41801074759da1447 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?Lubo=C5=A1=20Lu=C5=88=C3=A1k?= Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 20:15:39 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] First version of 4.0 release notes for KWin. Comments, additions, corrections are welcome. CCMAIL: kwin@kde.org svn path=/trunk/KDE/kdebase/workspace/; revision=758686 --- NOTES_4_0 | 149 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 138 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-) diff --git a/NOTES_4_0 b/NOTES_4_0 index c7eaa2393a..f4597ced0d 100644 --- a/NOTES_4_0 +++ b/NOTES_4_0 @@ -3,9 +3,147 @@ This document is for creating the 4.0 release notes. There are 3 parts: - comments and todo's about what should be added to them - comments about what should be in the accompanying kwin 4.0 video +TODO - check all XXX notes + 4.0 release notes ================= += Introduction = + +KWin, the standard KDE window manager, in KDE4.0 ships with the first version +of built-in support for compositing, making it also a compositing manager. +This allows KWin to provide advanced graphical effects, like for example with Compiz, +while also providing all the features from previous KDE releases (such as very good +intergration with the rest of KDE, advanced configurability, well-tested window manager, etc.). +Unlike Compiz, KWin still functions even when no system support for compositing is +available, with only compositing features not being available in such case. + +Previous KWin versions in later KDE3.x releases included a standalone compositing +manager called kompmgr, based on the xcompmgr compositing manager. Kompmgr was only +loosely tied with KWin, used only XRender for rendering and provided only basic +features like transparency, shadows and fade in/out animations. Compositing manager +in KWin in KDE4.0 is integrated with the rest of KWin, can use either OpenGL or XRender +for rendering and has a framework for compositing effects, all these allowing KWin +to provide a much wider range of features. + +Note, however, that compositing support in KWin in KDE4.0 is still considered experimental, +for several reasons. System support for compositing is often being problematic (various bugs +in X, drivers or other parts of the system), manual configuration of X may be required +for proper results (see below), some applications may not be prepared and work well +with compositing, the performance may not be adequate, and other problems. +Also, while KWin's compositing support is considered usable and reasonably stable, it +is relatively new code and has been tested only on a limited range of hardware. + +Therefore, compositing support in KWin is disabled by default, and needs to be explicitly +enabled. If there will be any problems, you can disable it again (see below for troubleshooting) +and report a bug with all relevant information about the problem. + + += Setting up = + +Compositing support is enabled in KWin's configuration. Press Alt+F3 and select 'Configure Window +Behavior'. In the configuration module, select page 'Desktop Effects' and enable checkbox +'Enable desktop effects'. After accepting the changes, a dialog with a timeout will appear, +asking to confirm enabling of compositing support. If you do not confirm within the timeout, +compositing support will be disabled again, therefore, if enabling compositing triggers +any problems, it should be sufficient to wait several seconds before the changes are reverted. +Note that after enabling or disabling compositing it is recommended to restart your KDE +session in order to ensure that all applications detect the change. + +If you cannot enable desktop effects, it may be because either your KDE is not built +with necessary support, or more probably because your system is not capable of providing +compositing support. See file +XXX http://websvn.kde.org/*checkout*/trunk/KDE/kdebase/workspace/kwin/COMPOSITE_HOWTO +for some instructions on setting up your system. Note that there may be other factors +affecting whether you do or do not have compositing support. + + += Usage = + +A quick overview of features provided by compositing manager in KWin: + +- Ctrl+F9 (and Ctrl+F10 for windows from all desktops) shows an overview of all windows + and allows activating one of them. The feature can be also activated by moving the mouse + into the top-left screen corner. A window can be activated by clicking it or by using arrows + and Enter key. You can also type text to filter the list of windows. +- Ctrl+F8 shotcut activates a desktop grid - all your virtual desktops will be arranged + on the screen (as an enlarged pager) - you can select and activate desktops using + a number, a function key, by clicking on it or by using arrows and Enter key, + you can move windows by dragging them or by right-clicking on them. +- The DesktopGrid effect also provides animations when switching between virtual desktops (can + be turned off). +- The window switcher (Alt+Tab by default) provides live thumbnails of windows. +- Windows blocked by modal dialogs are dimmed. +- Screen can be zoomed in and out using Win+, Win+ and reset using Win+0 ( + it is currently not possible to use mouse wheel, but this feature is planned). Note that + because of input transformation not being yet available in X the zoomed screen has to move + around to keep the mouse pointer at the same place like it would be when not zoomed. +- Screen can be shown with inverted colors by pressing Ctrl+Win+I (accessibility feature, + Invert effect is not enabled by default). +- There are fade animations during login and logout. +- Windows fade in and out. +- Minimize animation to/from taskbar. +- Windows have shadows. + +There are more features that are not enabled by default and need to be explicitly enabled +in the configuration. + +XXX link to 4.0 kwin video + + += Troubleshooting = + +As already said, compositing support in KWin is considered usable and reasonably stable, +but due to several reasons it may not work properly for you. + +If there are any problems with compositing support, the simplest option is to disable +it again. KWin will normally continue functioning, only not providing compositing features. +If you cannot normally turn off compositing support (for example because the screen +is corrupted), you can turn it off using one of these ways: +- run command 'kwriteconfig --file kwinrc --group Compositing --key Enabled false' from + the command line +- set environment variable 'KWIN_COMPOSE' to 'N' (append 'export KWIN_COMPOSE=N' at the end + of your ~/.profile), this affects compositing only temporarily +You will probably need to switch to text mode or start failsafe session from KDM to be +able to perform this. + +See file +XXX http://websvn.kde.org/*checkout*/trunk/KDE/kdebase/workspace/kwin/COMPOSITE_HOWTO +for some issues with various graphics cards. + +See other sections below for further possible problems. + + += XRender mode = + +It is possible to use XRender for compositing instead of the default OpenGL. +XRender mode in general has less features, however at the moment it is also considered +unstable - it has not received as much testing as OpenGL mode, some features may be incomplete +and it is recommended to use the OpenGL mode if possible. Also note that current XRender +implementations (in X/drivers) often perform rather poorly. + + += Developers = + +KWin provides support for writing compositing effects that may be loaded into KWin as +plugins. These effects communicate with KWin core using C++ API specially designed for this +purpose, making effects not directly dependent on KWin core and changes in it. + +At the time of the KDE4.0 release, since compositing support is still under heavy development, +this API is considered unstable and subject to change. If you write your own effect plugin, +you may need to recompile it after KWin update. KWin will however detect incompatible +versions and will not load such plugins (automatic, you do not need to provide any code for it). +As the compositing support will become more stabilized, this API will be kept backwards and +binary compatible, just like with other KDE libraries. + +At the time of the KDE4.0 release, API for compositing effects is unfortunately only sparsely +documented. Developers interested in writing compositing effects for KWin are suggested +to use source code of effects shipped with KWin (the Howto effect as the starting point) +XXX link to kwin sources? +and/or ask on the KWin mailing list XXX link. + + += Various = - Performance/smoothness with nVidia cards: Smoothness of KWin rendering can be improved by setting env.variable KWIN_NVIDIA_HACK to 1 (e.g. append @@ -16,21 +154,10 @@ This document is for creating the 4.0 release notes. There are 3 parts: if the negative impact becomes insignificant. See section "OPENGL YIELD BEHAVIOR" in README.txt for nVidia cards. -- XRender mode: It is possible to use XRender for compositing instead of the default OpenGL. - XRender mode in general has less features, however at the moment it is also considered - unstable - it has not received as much testing as OpenGL mode, some features may be incomplete - and it is recommended to use the OpenGL mode if possible. Also note that current XRender - implementations often perform rather poorly. - Comments ======== -- mention how to turn it on -- refer to COMPOSITE_HOWTO? -- mention API is unstable, work in progress and whatnot -- hmm, better mention compositing as a whole is still somewhat experimental :) - Video =====