Quote:Desktop computing technology has evolved considerably since the first graphical user interface was developed by researchers at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center in 1973. Thirty years after the conception of the window and the cursor, developers are now challenging conventional interface paradigms in order to provide users with a whole new generation of visually responsive and aesthetically provocative software technologies. Microsoft's Aero Glass, Apple's Quartz 2D Extreme, and Sun's Project Looking Glass are all poised to transform the way that users interact with computers. Also at the forefront of innovation, the Linux community has some prodigiously impressive new user interface technologies of its own. Beryl, a new open-source window manager for Linux, features compelling visual enhancements like support for transparent windows and elaborate window animations. Based on David Reveman's Compiz window manager, Beryl leverages hardware-accelerated rendering to provide support for unique and innovative graphical functionality.