Canonical's Working On A Unity 2D Desktop

There always needs to be a lo-fi fallback. 3D graphics is a big fat pain, even when you have a good well-supported video card. I ran into an odd Nvidia issue and haven't resolved it yet-- it won't do 1600x1050. Prolly have to give Nvidia tech support a try since it's a new card with the latest driver.

Also on a laptop a 2D desktop makes sense because it chews up less power so the battery lasts longer and it runs cooler. Also who really needs 3d effects anyhow?

Who needs 3D effects? I play some games that require them, and I like OpenGL screensavers. I don't like the idea of making the desktop environment dependent on them.

TC: Sure it isn't 1680x1050? I had some issues with it too in the beginning, though now it's ok.

Putting all possible desktop rendering work onto the video chipset, has two benefits:

1. Video chips are faster than CPU software.

2. Video chips generally use less electricity (and generate less heat) to render the same frame.

(Edited for wording.)

Yes Hans, it is 1680x1050. There is a 1680x1024 option, and so far all I've found is other users also wanting 1680x1050.

Gus,

Yes that is correct. The question I have though is whether all the additional power consumption which goes into 3d effects (even if pushed onto a gpu) is worth the additional desktop functionality... I am skeptical

You can still render on the GPU and disable 3D effects.

This is a very good sign. There are plenty of machines out there w/o 3D capability, and Linux developers who assume everybody is running the latest are generally assuming wrong.

I put this on a Thinkpad X300 and it isn't too bad at all even in rough alpha/beta form. It is fast, runs cooler than gnome, is nice to use and look at. The level of functionality still lags a bit compared with standard gnome most particularly with respect to accessing system settings and the like but it does show promise. I am using it right now to write this. The Ubuntu ppa is here:

https://launchpad.net/ ~unity-2d-team/+archive/unity-2d-daily

worth a look at least.

@ Tuxchick:

Things like Transparencies (or more properly: Translucencies) are often dependent on 3D compositing. And before you ask, transparency is needed when you have overlays (previews, on-screen keyboards & pen input boxes), most of the time.

For a simple desktop or laptop, I kind of see your point. But for tablets, phones & HTPCs, it's more necessary. By the way, I penned this with CellWriter on my M912m convertible touchscreen tablet/netbook.