This software is a flexible and customizable composite manager that employs Cairo for rendering.
Cairo Composite Manager is a composite manager software that's versatile and extensible as it utilizes cairo for rendering. It supports both 2D and 3D rendering using either the Xrender and Glitz backends. If you want to add some eye-catching effects to your desktop, plugins are available to help you achieve this. The goal behind cairo-compmgr is to make multiple rendering for compositing easy. This software was created with a specific workplace problem in mind: doing compositing without utilizing the GPU in one display screen, and using only the GPU in another. Additionally, they intended to keep Metacity as their window manager for some reasons.
Initially, the team tried to make enhancements to Metacity's compositing features. Still, it didn't provide any way of doing 2D rendering, leading to numerous regressions. Therefore, they concluded that Cairo was the best option for rendering in both 2D and 3D. Unfortunately, they couldn't use the Texture From Pixmap extension since it's an OpenGL feature leading to some performance problems. To get the surface using Cairo, they had to copy it from the Xcomposite pixmap onto the surface. This caused some slowness, and even though they tried using Xshm to hasten transfers, it wasn't enough to provide reasonable performance. However, the solution minimized the problem by optimizing the redraw of damaged areas.
CCM is built using GObject for an object model design and provides a plugin system that allows the addition of various effects. Presently, only "shadow" and "menu transparency" plugins are available, with several more expected in the future. Lastly, Cairo Composite Manager aims to offer just enough shortcuts and options to avoid conflict with the window manager while trying to work with it to add effects. Future plans for the software include adding a clutter backend, creating some means for other applications to interact with Cairo Composite Manager, particularly accessibility applications, and adding more plugins to enhance the software's effectiveness.
Initially, the team tried to make enhancements to Metacity's compositing features. Still, it didn't provide any way of doing 2D rendering, leading to numerous regressions. Therefore, they concluded that Cairo was the best option for rendering in both 2D and 3D. Unfortunately, they couldn't use the Texture From Pixmap extension since it's an OpenGL feature leading to some performance problems. To get the surface using Cairo, they had to copy it from the Xcomposite pixmap onto the surface. This caused some slowness, and even though they tried using Xshm to hasten transfers, it wasn't enough to provide reasonable performance. However, the solution minimized the problem by optimizing the redraw of damaged areas.
CCM is built using GObject for an object model design and provides a plugin system that allows the addition of various effects. Presently, only "shadow" and "menu transparency" plugins are available, with several more expected in the future. Lastly, Cairo Composite Manager aims to offer just enough shortcuts and options to avoid conflict with the window manager while trying to work with it to add effects. Future plans for the software include adding a clutter backend, creating some means for other applications to interact with Cairo Composite Manager, particularly accessibility applications, and adding more plugins to enhance the software's effectiveness.
What's New
Version 0.2.91: N/A