New Tricks with X11

As of KDE 3.4 there’s a new feature where windows can have transparency and shadows. It’s way to computing-heavy for my laptop but it was cool enough to try out for a few minutes just the same. I’ll post an article in a while about how to get the transparency extension working with KDE 3.4.

The reason KDE can do this transparency stuff is because of great new advancements in the X11 renderer. X11 can make shadows and make things transparent but can also mutate windows and do all of the wacky visual effects that OS X is proud of.

Here are some screenshots that display the power of the new X11. These are using some still-experimental X11 programs, but we’re bound to get the full extent of this technology soon.