3D based desktop?

[attanze]

So, in conclusion, will be or will be not an accelerated desktop like Aero or Compiz into ReactOS? I desperately want one!

[Z98]

The ReactOS team will NOT make one. If someone else does, we may provide a link in the Download app, but we will likely not bundle it with the OS itself.

[.aart3k]

one of most viewed topic. conclusion comes itself.

seems that Download! will become an feature enabler in ROS

[artguy10]

I would sure love to see a desktop that supports transparency, and even more a feature which would enable a view of multiple windows. Vista has a 3D one, but the style of Expose on the Mac is also excellent. It is a very nice feature, and I hope it becomes part of this os one day. Otherwise, it will just be that the free operating systems are usable, but the expensive ones are really cool, too.

[Haos]

Then have a look at the app called Madotate.

[artguy10]

Looks good, maybe could be included (at least in Download) in later versions of ROS?

[BNU]

In regards to 3D desktops:

I have found in my own experience, that they tend to have a great "shock" factor at the beginning. Then they become tedious, especially when there is work to be done.

Most people want a straight-forward desktop. One they can use to do what they want to get done and get out.

3D desktops also tend to have a steep learning curve, limited to how much a user knows how to manipulate the system.

3D environments are good for specific applications, not for the backbone of a system.

Even with the high-end systems of today, memory and system resource consumption is still an issue. The more the OS uses the less there is for what you really have the system for...applications.

The whole point of an OS is to make a system usable. The more complex the OS is, the more people are going to be alienated from it, like Linux.

The above user is spot on. 3D perspective should be limited to particular applications.

When you see the Code Name Apache Rejuvenation Project you will see that all these GUI things are no longer a factor. They are sorted out into a format that everyone in the world can readily understand without the need for any icons or windows.

3D (really 2D perspective drawing) has it's place but only in relation to objects that are being presented in relation to some other context and where you specifically need to see multiple angles of the same object... e.g. when reviewing which car to buy or running through a building in a first person shooter or seeing multiple objects to manage them like in World of Warcraft.

What is the architecture of the graphics subsystem for ReactOS now?

[FlowPX2]

look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T67kricX ... ed&search=


This is a good 3D desktop

[mf]

Offscreen desktop composition has many benefits that go beyond gimmicky 3D or pixel shader effects. Eye candy is not an argument against it. Even if you turned off all the animation and transparency on a composited desktop, it would still (provided that the GPU is up to the task) outperform a "classic" plain-screenbuffer desktop.

- Less main memory usage (especially on large multi-monitor setups with total screen estate of 3520x1200 or more), as buffers are in graphics memory

- No window redrawing necessary when uncovering occluded windows or task switching, as every window has its own texture buffer

- Minimal CPU load for any visual tasks regarding windowing

- No frame tearing during moving/sizing of windows, textures can be drawn double-buffered and hardware accelerated (Note: Aero does not use double buffering I have been told, Xgl and Quartz Extreme do)

- When a process hangs and stops redrawing its window contents, you can still task switch from and to it without erasing the window contents

- No ghost trails during high CPU load or instable system, ever

For these and other reasons it is likely that a compositing engine based on or inspired by Vista's DWM will one day be implemented in ReactOS, even if current developers stubbornly say it won't ever happen. Do not expect it to happen even within the coming 2 years though, there are much more pressing matters at the moment and it will probably be necessary for a very skilled new developer to join and make it his/her pet project before it can come close to becoming a reality.