Not all graphics cards are equal, but one would expect them to perform the same or close to the same on one operating system as they do on another. Unfortunately, the lack of cooperation from some graphics chip manufacturers and the slow development of some open source drivers have created an environment where every user’s experience may be different.

KDE has several settings that you can tweak to get better performance with desktop effects. Unfortunately, there is no solution that fixes all issues, and even two users with the same graphics chip manufacturer but different models may have dramatically different results. The intent of this guide is to help you understand the different settings and what they can do to help improve performance.

Enable Desktop Effects

Many current Linux distributions will enable desktop effects by default. If your distribution does but you still cannot get desktop effects working, you should first check the settings.

1. Open “System Settings” from the K-menu or press Alt+F2 and type “System Settings”.
2. Under Workspace Appearance and Behavior, click “Desktop Effects”.
3. Check the “Enable desktop effects” box.

If you cannot check the box and it tells you that it could not be enabled, KDE may have your graphics card on its black list. To get around this problem, you will need to manually edit ~/.kde/share/config/kwinrc. You can use the following commands from a terminal:

kwriteconfig -file kwinrc -group Compositing -key Enabled true
kwriteconfig -file kwinrc -group Compositing -key OpenGLIsUnsafe false
kwriteconfig -file kwinrc -group Compositing -key CheckIsSafe true

Advanced Configuration

The “Advanced” tab in the “Desktop Effects” configuration allows you to tweak your effect system to work better with your graphics card. As a warning, you should know that some settings may cause your screen to become unreadable or cause desktop effects to stop working. Fortunately, any changes you make will revert back to their previous settings if you are unable to confirm them.

Compositing type

There are two choices here: OpenGL (3D) and XRender (2D). From my experience, graphics cards with good 3D hardware and drivers should always use OpenGL. Nvidia and AMD cards usually fall into this category, although the AMD/ATI drivers may vary in performance depending on the age of your card. Recent Intel graphics drivers have been horrendous, and your 3D performance will probably be significantly lower than it would in Windows. Because of this, I recommend using XRender with Intel graphics chips until the drivers are improved. The down side of XRender is that it will disable some effects, such as Desktop Cube and Cover Switch. Most, however, such as Transparency, Shadows, and Desktop Grid, will continue to function.

If you want to make sure desktop effects stay enabled no matter what, check the “Disable functionality checks” box. This may help if some effects work with your card but are not supported.

Keep window thumbnails

In most situations, you can leave the setting “Only for Shown Windows”. If you experience any problems, you can always disable it.

Scale method

This is all about speed vs. quality, and only the discerning eye will know the difference. “Crisp” is faster and more rigid, while “Smooth” is slower and more polished.

If you think suspending desktop effects will improve performance, you can check “Suspend desktop effects for fullscreen windows”. This may help some games and videos.

OpenGL mode

There are three settings for OpenGL mode:

• Texture from Pixmap – In this setting, textures are stored directly in the graphics card’s memory, which is usually faster than storing them in the system memory
• Shared memory – This stores the textures in your X server’s shared memory, which is a section of your system memory. Use this only if pixmaps do not work, as it is usually slower.
• Fallback – This setting simply tries Texture from Pixmap and then switches to Shared memory if the former does not work.

Direct rendering

This is one setting that will vary greatly from one graphics card / driver combination to another. Generally, direct rendering should be faster as it bypasses X and sends instructions directly to the graphics card, but some cards have stability issues or incompatibility with this option.

VSync

With vertical synchronization, all screen drawing is synced with the monitor’s vertical display updates. It is designed to make the screen easier on the eyes and prevent tearing. For some, however, it can slow down performance.

The Right Combination

It is impossible to know what the perfect combination of settings will be without trying them on your own graphics card. Until the Linux graphic driver situation improves,  KDE users will have to do some tweaking to get optimal performance.

1. Plasma Themes

The plasma theme engine is quite straightforward. It controls the look and feel of the KDE panel, the widgets/applets, the Krunner command interface, and any pop-ups from the panel or widgets. To change the theme:

1. Open System Settings (systemsettings)
2. Click Workspace Appearance
3. Click “Desktop Theme”

You can then select the theme you want. To download other themes from KDE-Look.org, just click “Get New Themes…”

Best of all, with Plasma, you can mix and match any themes you want, add your own components, or create your own new themes. To do so, click the “Details” tab. Each theme item will have an associated source. In the drop-down menu, select the theme source or select “File” to choose one you have created. Finally, tick the “More” box to save your new theme or even export it to share with others.

2. KWin Themes and Desktop Effects

With your new sexy looking desktop widgets and panel, you now need to match your window decorations. KDE’s window manager, KWin, has a number of themes you can choose. While still in “Workspace Appearance”, click the “Window Decorations” button on the left side. From there you can choose the decoration you want, customize the buttons, configure shadows (for some decorations), or click “Get New Decorations…” to find user-created gems.

KWin also has a plethora of desktop effects you can use, depending on your video card. In System Settings, click “Desktop Effects” and choose the effects you desire.

TIP: If you ever need to suspend desktop effects, simply press Alt+Shift+F12.

3. Wallpapers, Slideshows, and Viruses

A wallpaper can make or break a desktop. With KDE, you can choose a simple color, patterns, images, an entire slideshow, or other desktop effects, such as the “virus” or “globe” options. To choose the wallpaper you want, right click on the desktop and click “Desktop Settings”. If you have your own wallpaper you want to add, click “Open…” You can also click “Get New…” to find more wallpapers.

TIP: Make sure you choose the right positioning for your wallpaper. If it already has the right aspect ratio but not the right size, choose “Scaled”. If it has neither, choose “Scaled and Cropped.”

4. Icon Sets

Manually changing an entire icon set can be tricky in KDE, but it is easy to download one from KDE-Look.org and install it. Just follow these steps:

1. Download the icon set from KDE-Look.org
2. Open System Settings
3. Click “Application Appearance”
4. Click “Icons”
5. Click “Install Theme File…”

You can also download a set from within the dialog by clicking on “Get New Themes…”

5. Widgets

Plasma has built-in support for desktop and panel widgets. In addition to native Plasma widgets (plasmoids), it also supports Google Gadgets and many other widget types. To place new widgets, right click on the desktop or panel and click “Add Widgets…”

6. The Art of the Panel

You have full control over the KDE panel. You can resize it, move it, hide it, and more. To modify it, make sure your widgets are unlocked and click the little cashew at the end of the panel. This will open a configuration pop-up.

TIP: Want windows to cover your panel but do not want to hide it all the time? Click “More Settings” and choose “Windows can cover”. A maximized window will hide the panel, but moving your mouse to the edge of the screen will raise it, just like a hidden panel.

7. Folder View and Shelf

Clutter is something that has always plagued Windows, Mac, and Linux desktops. The desktop is probably better described as a workspace, and people want drag images, files, and other items onto it. Over time, however, it gets very messy. With Folder View, you can still have items on your desktop, but you can keep them organized in boxes and categories. With Shelf, you can have launchable icons for anything, organized in nice rows on your workspace.

Experiment and Create

KDE can be anything you want it to be. That freedom is what makes free and open source software so great. Try out new looks. Impress your friends, and share your creations.

With the coming of KDE 4, the number of effects has multiplied, and KWin (KDE’s window manager) is now on par with Compiz (a window manager with numerous desktop effects). Moreover, KWin’s primary advantage over Compiz is that it is part of KDE and integrates perfectly with the rest of the desktop. While support for Compiz has been added, there are still some outstanding glitches when run on top of KDE.

One misconception about desktop effects is that they are solely used to increase aesthetic appeal and add no practical functionality. The reality, however, is that many desktop effects provide accessibility features and productivity enhancements, but having an awesome-looking desktop certainly doesn’t hurt.

General Settings

KDE will attempt to detect your graphics card and determine which effects will function. For most, this works just fine, but if not,you may need to install drivers for your graphics card that can support composite window managers.

To check the status of desktop effects, start System Settings and, in the “WorkSpace Appearance and Behavior” section, click “Desktop Effects“. Alternatively, you can press “Alt+F2″, type Desktop Effects, and press Enter.

“Enable desktop effects” should be checked, and the “Compositing State” should say “Desktop effects are active”. From this General tab, you can also select common settings, rather than configuring each effect individually.

If you ever need to stop desktop effects, click the “Suspend Desktop Effects” button or press “Shift+Alt+F12″ from anywhere in KDE. This is particularly useful if you are playing OpenGL or SDL games that behave erratically with effects enabled.

All Effects

The second tab, called “All Effects” shows you every available desktop effect. The enabled effects will have a check in the left-hand box next to the name, and those that have available configuration settings will have wrench icons to the right.

The first section is Appearance, which, as the name indicates, contains effects that alter the appearance of the desktop and/or windows. Fade, for example, causes windows to fade in and out smoothly when they are opened or closed. A new feature, called Blur, will cause any translucent window components to blur the backgrounds behind them.

An example of an effect that has some practical value is “Taskbar Thumbnails”. With it, you can hover your mouse over a taskbar entry and see a small thumbnail image of the window. The thumbnail is updated in real time, so if a progress bar is moving, for example, the thumbnail will actually show you the progress as it increases. Shadows also provide depth to the windows, making it easier to distinguish one from another.

While only a few of the Appearance effects have true practical value, for the Accessibility effects, functionality is their primary purpose. For example, the Zoom function allows the user to mangify the entire desktop, zooming in or out with 3D smoothing, and Track Mouse helps a user locate the mouse on the screen.

Focus is another section of effects that offers some visually pleasing and practical benefits. Dialog Parent, for example, dims the parent window behind a dialog box, helping the user focus on the active box. Dim Inactive dims any window that is not the current one you are using, particularly useful for those who are easily distracted. With Slide Back, when you change the focus to a window other than the current one, it will pull the current window to the side and then slide it underneath, providing a more natural-looking change of focus.

The Window Management effects deal with the windows and desktop organization. Here, you can configure the windows switching, desktop switching, Desktop Grid, which allows you to zoom out and see all desktops, and Present Windows, which zooms out all windows so that you can select the one you want.

In the Tools section, you have useful tech/troubleshooting effects, one that shows the frames per second (FPS) for the current desktop, and one that shows “paint”, areas of the desktop that change or refresh.

Advanced Settings

Finally, in the Advanced tab of Desktop Effects, you can change the Compositing type. OpenGL provides the most effects but requires a 3D-capable graphics card and drivers. XRender works without 3D capability, but it also disables some effects. Most of the other settings in this section vary depending on the graphics card you are using. The best way to find the correct setting is to test them, but aware that some may not work at all.

KDE desktop effects add eye candy and functionality to your desktop experience. Furthermore, Plasma and some applications make use of the compisiting system to add further effects, providing the user with a visually striking desktop environment.

As such, several developers have taken advantage of this to introduce alternative user interfaces for Windows Mobile devices. Given that the platform (while under supported in recent years) is the most versatile of all the flavours of mobile available, this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

Key among these developers is Spb Software, who over the last few years have released a succession of mobile shells for Windows Mobile. The latest of these is Spb Mobile Shell 3 which is available as a free 14 day trial from Spb Software, full price $29.95.

Configuring Spb Mobile Shell 3

Spb Mobile Shell 3 is the most popular of the Windows Mobile user interface enhancements, mostly due to it being so user friendly, easily configurable and requiring minimal resources. Once installed, there are several things that you may wish to do – such as manage your contacts or organise your mobile desktop.

Finger friendly and capable of being used almost exclusively without having to resort to any Windows Mobile index menus or settings (other than Pocket Outlook screens), Spb Mobile Shell 3 offers a smooth and well presented layout of all of your vital mobile information. A three-screen-wide desktop allows for the effective arrangement of favourite applications, tools and contacts, while a variety of different functions (address book, calendar, settings and others) can be accessed via a carousel system.

The Desktop

The first thing to do once you have installed Spb Mobile Shell 3 is to setup your desktop. There are two choices of desktop:

• The standard “Professional” look that displays time, calendar, upcoming appointments, weather and any email/SMS/missed call alerts,
• The “Lifestyle” layout which can be configured entirely to your requirements.

Spb Mobile Shell’s Lifestyle desktop offers the three-screen-wide option, allowing email notifications, widgets for launching favourite applications and much more to be displayed at the required position and size.

For instance to add a widget of your favourite Windows Mobile game to your Spb Mobile Shell 3 desktop view, press the Menu button on the lower right of the display, go to Add Widget and browse Applications -> Games. Once placed on the desktop you can also resize and reposition the widget before confirming the addition.

Desktop Background

A range of standard widgets are available to begin with, such as analogue and digital clock types, calendar, messaging notifications and it’s also possible to change your desktop background.

To do this, press the Menu button on the lower right of the display and select Change Background. From here you can browse through images in the Spb Mobile Shell folder on your Windows Mobile device and select an image that suits. If you have images elsewhere on your phone to use, they will need to be copied to the Spb Mobile Shell folder which can be found in the Program Files folder on your phone.

Alternative Spb Mobile Shell 3 backgrounds can be downloaded from the website – 40 alternatives from the included 6 are available offering a range of scenery.

Add a Contact and Manage Widgets

Adding a shortcut to one of your contacts is simple too – press the Menu button on the lower right of the display and select Add Widget -> Shortcuts -> Contact.

The required contact will then appear on your Spb Mobile Shell 3 desktop – but if they haven’t got a photo assigned you’ll just see an outline and the contact name.

As with all desktop widgets in Spb Mobile Shell 3, you can move the contact to a different screen of your finger friendly scrolling desktop display, and resize it.

To do this, open the Menu again and select Edit Layout. From here, select the widget you want to change – you’ll see that it is now highlighted with a heavy white outline and a down-pointing white triangle. Touch the widget you want to adjust – a new menu will offer options to move it to a left or right page of the desktop, to display a text label for the widget or to resize it.

Spb Mobile Shell 3 is a superbly configurable interface for Windows Mobile devices that completely re-states what it means to use a Windows Phone device.