virtualbox.org

This isn't a question obviously. I have probably installed 30-40 flavors of Linux since I installed VirtualBox and have met with varied successes. The recent version of Xubuntu is fast on VB even with compositing and 3D turned on. So I think if you want something that runs well in VB but still like "eye-candy", it would be something to take a look at.

The compositing that Xfce4 provides do not require 3D settings and it doesn't provide all the eye-candy like Compiz on Gnome and the desktop effects from Kwin on KDE. You have to manually install Compiz-Fusion to get the desktop cube and everything. Then you also need to somehow make sure that Compiz starts as your Window Manager. If it works, it works fine, but you might get the same issues as with Gnome, though it's easier to fix.

Sasquatch wrote:The compositing that Xfce4 provides do not require 3D settings and it doesn't provide all the eye-candy like Compiz on Gnome and the desktop effects from Kwin on KDE. You have to manually install Compiz-Fusion to get the desktop cube and everything. Then you also need to somehow make sure that Compiz starts as your Window Manager. If it works, it works fine, but you might get the same issues as with Gnome, though it's easier to fix.

I should of said "some" eye-candy. I assume anything involving Compiz in a VM is a no win situation based on my experience. I was just recommending Xfce4 over things like Lxde, fluxbox etc for people that may want "some" eye-candy.

Compiz scares me

Ah Compiz is not a problem. I have it working great in Ubuntu 10.04. Not so well in 10.10 but hey they changed so many things and are still trying to triage due to pushing it out before it was really ready IMHO. I do see 10.10 as a lot heavier in regards to needed resources though. What used to work well with 512MB now needs 768MB. I guess with more eye candy and features it is expected. Still the vRam of 32MB is adequate and 64MB is overkill on a single monitor.

Perryg wrote:Ah Compiz is not a problem. I have it working great in Ubuntu 10.04. Not so well in 10.10 but hey they changed so many things and are still trying to triage due to pushing it out before it was really ready IMHO. I do see 10.10 as a lot heavier in regards to needed resources though. What used to work well with 512MB now needs 768MB. I guess with more eye candy and features it is expected. Still the vRam of 32MB is adequate and 64MB is overkill on a single monitor.

Well, I have Compiz running in both 10.04 flavors and 10.10 flavors as well. I guess "great" is relative. I mean it does function. But the speed difference between running a guest with and without Compiz is fairly significant on my machine. I am on a bit older iMac 2 Ghz core 2 duo with 3Gbs of ram and a built in graphics chip set with 128 Mbs of Video Ram. Maybe if I had a speedier Mac, a real or speedier graphics card, more cores etc,. the difference wouldn't be as significant. But Yes, Compiz runs on several guests. Although I've had issues with things like Fedora, Sabayon, openSUSE etc.

p.s. speaking of being "afraid" of Compiz. If it wasn't set up correctly for whatever reason. On a few of my guests, it not only locked up the guest and VB, but my Mac as well. I actually would have to power off my machine. It's actually the only time in all the years I've owned Macs I've had that happen.