Hi,

I have become a kompose / expose addict to the point where I almost detest task bars. Getting a quick overview of all your open windows and selecting the one you want is just super visual, spatial,intuitive.

Can I get this feature in KDE4? Do I have to turn on "high powered graphics mode" to get access to it? If so that doesn't seem fair...

Thanks in advance,

andre_orwell wrote:Hi,

I have become a kompose / expose addict to the point where I almost detest task bars. Getting a quick overview of all your open windows and selecting the one you want is just super visual, spatial,intuitive.

Can I get this feature in KDE4? Do I have to turn on "high powered graphics mode" to get access to it? If so that doesn't seem fair...

Thanks in advance,

I am not sure if i get that... You mean you don't have the task manager on your panel. Because as default you should have it on your panel, regardless of "high powered graphics mode" or not.
But if you don't have it, see the tutorial here to configure your panel and add the missing task manager.

Thanks, I have a task manager but I'd like to get rid of it. They are never big enough anyway.

You see in the many "MS windows style" desktops (I date back...) you get 3 different views of each running task: the actual application window(s); the task bar button(s) and the task switcher icon(s). That's a lot of connections to make. Especially when your run with a lot of open apps/windows as I do.

Then Apple created expose... You can run a desktop without a task bar because with the click of a single button you can see all your open applications in miniature and select the one you want. Very fast to use and intuitive.

Kompose implemented a similar thing for KDE 3 and I'm sure I had this or something similar in KDE 3.5 in kubuntu 8.04. Unfortunately I can't check easily as upgrading to 8.10 removed KDE3.

Would love it in kde4

You'll have to enable dekstop effects for KWin to get Kompose/Exposé like behaviour. The specific feature you're looking for is called "Present windows".

Unfortunately it's still quite limited - viz. there is only one way to present windows - which is the reason I don't use it at the moment. Exposé was one of the main features I used for interfacing my computer, together with Quicksilver, back when I was still running OS X. So if "Present windows" will get more advanced (e.g. more ways to present windows) I think I'll use it again.

Yes, KWin has an Expose-clone called Present Windows. It's a almost guarantee that your system can run it, it uses almost no processing power. There are three layout modes: Natural, which is the most OS X-like mode; Regular grid, which aligns all windows in a grid; and flexible grid, which the algorithm is based off the one in Kompose.

Here's a video of the KDE 4.2 version (The "bounciness" has being toned down a fair bit since the video was made).

Edit: beaten.

mensch wrote:You'll have to enable dekstop effects for KWin to get Kompose/Exposé like behaviour. The specific feature you're looking for is called "Present windows".

Unfortunately it's still quite limited - viz. there is only one way to present windows - which is the reason I don't use it at the moment. Exposé was one of the main features I used for interfacing my computer, together with Quicksilver, back when I was still running OS X. So if "Present windows" will get more advanced (e.g. more ways to present windows) I think I'll use it again.

What do you mean by "limited" and "only one way"? Currently the effect does everything that the OS X version does except splitting multiple desktops into their own areas.

Zarin wrote:What do you mean by "limited" and "only one way"? Currently the effect does everything that the OS X version does except splitting multiple desktops into their own areas.

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same version of KDE, I run 4.1.2 so I guess "Present windows" has gotten some love in the upcoming release because my version lacks the layout modes you describe for example.

What I would like is to configure "Present windows" so that it triggers different groupings according to which screen corner is touched with the mouse. One should clear all windows and show my desktop without minimising all the windows, the other present all windows and the last one should group windows according to which application they belong to. Especially the "Show desktop" variety is something I used a lot in OS X (because it's very handy while dragging and dropping) and currently miss.

mensch wrote:

Zarin wrote:What do you mean by "limited" and "only one way"? Currently the effect does everything that the OS X version does except splitting multiple desktops into their own areas.

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same version of KDE, I run 4.1.2 so I guess "Present windows" has gotten some love in the upcoming release because my version lacks the layout modes you describe for example.

What I would like is to configure "Present windows" so that it triggers different groupings according to which screen corner is touched with the mouse. One should clear all windows and show my desktop without minimising all the windows, the other present all windows and the last one should group windows according to which application they belong to. Especially the "Show desktop" variety is something I used a lot in OS X (because it's very handy while dragging and dropping) and currently miss.

Yes, the layout options are a part of KDE 4.2.

Ah, I stand corrected, I forgot about those other modes. The single application one shouldn't be that difficult to add. As for the show desktop one though I'm pretty sure it's technically impossible to add until Xorg gets input redirection (Apparently it's been delayed again) meaning it cannot be added for another year or so (?).

Zarin wrote:Ah, I stand corrected, I forgot about those other modes. The single application one shouldn't be that difficult to add.

That would be great! But the video you linked to looks promising as well, all adding up to me wanting KDE 4.2. running on my computer as soon as possible.

As for the show desktop one though I'm pretty sure it's technically impossible to add until Xorg gets input redirection (Apparently it's been delayed again) meaning it cannot be added for another year or so (?).

That's a real shame, I hope it's not a year though. But I'll be patient.