Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Stupid window shadows.
Xfce is a lot like other desktop managers - if you're a Windows only user, then the only desktop manager that you are likely familiar with (and probably don't spend much time thinking about) is "the Windows Desktop1".
And like other desktop managers, Xfce serves up eye candy like it's Halloween 365 days/year.
One of the fancy effects is window shadows2. The 3D look and feel seems to be regarded as a necessity by GUI designers these days. The shadows are enabled by default and didn't bother me at all - until I switched the window manager's behavior to "focus follows mouse" and "do not raise on in-window click or focus". I like this behavior because I can be scrolling through a webpage or writing some email, but have another window open above the browser so that I can keep an eye it. If I decide that I do want the browser on top, it's a simple matter to click the title bar to bring it to the top.
Now the window shadows have become a problem - simply because the window manager does not clear them properly when bringing an already focused window to the top. Any overlapping windows are cleared, but their shadows remain visible on the now topmost window - until the entire window is redrawn3.
This obviously became a pain in the neck rather quickly, so I had to disable them - only to find out that they are not only on by default, but that there is no option in Xfce's window manager properties (or any other Xfce settings dialog that I could find) to disable them.
There's probably an Xfce config file somewhere to disable it, but hunting that down could take a while. But I know what to do. I know that the shadows depend on the X server's "composite" extension.
So I just edited xorg.conf and disabled the composite extension.
Problem solved.
1. In fact, most desktop managers perform the role of, in MS Windows terms, The Desktop (Icons and Wallpaper), The "Start" menu (usually called the application launcher in other managers), the task bar, the System tray, and maybe some other things.
2. Window Shadows are actually a "feature" of the window manager, but as this is almost always closely tied to the desktop manager - and usually controlled through the desktop manager, it can be thought of as in the domain of the desktop manager.
3. The windows are redrawn when moved, resized, and for any number of other reasons.
And like other desktop managers, Xfce serves up eye candy like it's Halloween 365 days/year.
One of the fancy effects is window shadows2. The 3D look and feel seems to be regarded as a necessity by GUI designers these days. The shadows are enabled by default and didn't bother me at all - until I switched the window manager's behavior to "focus follows mouse" and "do not raise on in-window click or focus". I like this behavior because I can be scrolling through a webpage or writing some email, but have another window open above the browser so that I can keep an eye it. If I decide that I do want the browser on top, it's a simple matter to click the title bar to bring it to the top.
Now the window shadows have become a problem - simply because the window manager does not clear them properly when bringing an already focused window to the top. Any overlapping windows are cleared, but their shadows remain visible on the now topmost window - until the entire window is redrawn3.
This obviously became a pain in the neck rather quickly, so I had to disable them - only to find out that they are not only on by default, but that there is no option in Xfce's window manager properties (or any other Xfce settings dialog that I could find) to disable them.
There's probably an Xfce config file somewhere to disable it, but hunting that down could take a while. But I know what to do. I know that the shadows depend on the X server's "composite" extension.
So I just edited xorg.conf and disabled the composite extension.
Problem solved.
1. In fact, most desktop managers perform the role of, in MS Windows terms, The Desktop (Icons and Wallpaper), The "Start" menu (usually called the application launcher in other managers), the task bar, the System tray, and maybe some other things.
2. Window Shadows are actually a "feature" of the window manager, but as this is almost always closely tied to the desktop manager - and usually controlled through the desktop manager, it can be thought of as in the domain of the desktop manager.
3. The windows are redrawn when moved, resized, and for any number of other reasons.
