There are four short videos showing several new desktop effects for the up coming Novell Linux Desktop (NLD) version 10. They are: "transparency, wobbling windows, desktop zooming, a 3D Cube for desktop switching, and a task switcher which displays a preview of windows."
The two most amazing to me are wobbling windows and the 3-D cube.
Wobbling windows is kind of like picking up a piece of cloth and shaking it. The cloth will flutter as the air rushes past it. Sort of like the ripples that a flag makes as it flutters in the wind. Likewise, clicking and dragging a window in NLD 10 makes the windows flutter. The faster you drag it, the more it flutters. Although, as far as I know, this is totally useless, it is nonetheless a pretty cool effect.
The 3-D cube allows you to see your virtual screens, one on each face of the virtual cube. You can spin the cube along its vertical or horizontal axis and pick the one you want to bring to the fore. Unlike wobbling windows, this has a practical use as it is easy to forget, especially with a lot of desktops active, which contains the specific application you are trying to find.
Even though I have not seen Microsoft's Vista nor Apple's Mac OS X, this looks like something a generation ahead of what is currently out there and certainly a step ahead in the Linux world.
I think I need to add this distro to my list while I search for a better Linux desktop. Of course, Novell hasn't shipped NLD 10, yet (and has apparently been previewing it in various forms since last year) so who knows when that will be.
