Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Compiz VS Unity8

Compare Compiz VS Unity8 and see what are their differences

Compiz logo Compiz

Project information. Maintainer: PS Project Management Team. Driver: Compiz Maintainers. Licence: GNU GPL v2, GNU LGPL v2. 1, MIT / X / Expat Licence.

Unity8 logo Unity8

Mir compositor with Wayland apps support.
  • Compiz Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-11-19
  • Unity8 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18

Compiz features and specs

  • Enhanced Aesthetic Appeal
    Compiz provides a variety of visually appealing effects and animations, improving the overall look and feel of the user interface.
  • Customizability
    Users can extensively customize their desktop experience with various plugins and settings to tailor their environment to their personal preferences.
  • Improved Productivity
    Features such as the Exposรฉ-like window overview, workspace switching animations, and enhanced window management help users stay organized and switch between tasks more efficiently.
  • Wide Range of Plugins
    Compiz offers a vast collection of plugins that extend its functionality, allowing users to add new features or enhance existing ones.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Compiz invites community contributions and continuous improvements, fostering innovation and collaboration.

Possible disadvantages of Compiz

  • Performance Overhead
    Running Compiz may consume considerable system resources, potentially impacting performance on lower-end hardware.
  • Stability Issues
    Some users may encounter instability or crashes, especially when using certain plugins or running it on unsupported hardware configurations.
  • Complexity
    The extensive customization options and numerous plugins can be overwhelming for users unfamiliar with Compiz, making it challenging to set up and manage.
  • Compatibility
    Compiz may not be fully compatible with all desktop environments or applications, potentially leading to graphical glitches or reduced functionality in some cases.
  • Maintenance
    As Compiz is heavily driven by community contributions, the pace of maintenance and updates can vary, sometimes resulting in delayed support for new features or bug fixes.

Unity8 features and specs

  • Convergence
    Unity8 is designed with convergence in mind, allowing a seamless experience across multiple device types like desktops, tablets, and phones.
  • Modern Interface
    The interface is modern and visually appealing, providing a fresh alternative to other desktop environments.
  • Community-Driven
    As part of the UBports project, Unity8 benefits from a community-driven development approach, making it responsive to user feedback.
  • Customization
    Users can customize the interface according to personal preferences, improving user experience and productivity.
  • Lightweight
    Unity8 is relatively lightweight compared to other desktop environments, which can help improve system performance on older hardware.

Possible disadvantages of Unity8

  • Limited Software Support
    Due to its niche status, Unity8 may not have as extensive software support as more mainstream environments like GNOME or KDE.
  • Development Pace
    As a community-driven project, the pace of development can be slower compared to commercially-backed alternatives.
  • Stability Issues
    Being under constant development, users may experience occasional stability issues or bugs.
  • Learning Curve
    Users who are accustomed to more traditional desktop environments might face a learning curve when transitioning to Unity8.
  • Limited Market Adoption
    Unity8 has limited adoption in the broader market, which can affect the availability of third-party applications and extensions.

Analysis of Compiz

Overall verdict

  • Compiz is considered to be a good choice for those who desire an enriched desktop experience with advanced visual effects. However, it is important to note that it may require a well-configured environment and might not be necessary for everyone, especially those who prefer simplicity over aesthetic enhancements.

Why this product is good

  • Compiz is a compositing window manager for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. It's known for its visually appealing and smooth animations, which enhance the user interface experience. Users appreciate Compiz for its ability to provide a more dynamic and engaging desktop environment.

Recommended for

  • Users who want an enhanced visual desktop experience.
  • Individuals interested in experimenting with advanced window management effects.
  • Those running older Linux distributions that support Compiz.
  • Developers or enthusiasts looking to customize and tweak their desktop appearance.

Compiz videos

Fedora 32 mate compiz install and review.

More videos:

  • Review - Linux Ubuntu 11.10 Kernel 3.0.0.12 compiz / review from a Windows guy
  • Review - VIDEO SATISFACTORIO, REVIEW DE MANJARO XFCE + COMPIZ

Unity8 videos

Unity8 Desktop Greeter Preview (Split Greeter)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Compiz and Unity8)
Window Manager
87 87%
13% 13
Linux
67 67%
33% 33
Note Taking
100 100%
0% 0
Operating Systems
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Compiz and Unity8. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Unity8 seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Compiz mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Compiz yet. Tracking of Compiz recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Unity8 mentions (2)

  • What happened to lomiri
    Https://lomiri.com links to https://github.com/ubports/unity8 and this repository is accessible. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Any GNOME-like DEs without all the GNOME bs?
    Unity. Yes, it's still around (now going by "unity8" and maintained and developed by UBports now instead of Canonical but it's still the same DE we all know and hate er love). Obv not my cup of tea so I'm not very knowledgeable about it so could be way off but who knows, maybe we'll get a Unity lover here and they can chime in. github. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Compiz and Unity8, you can also consider the following products

Witch - Welcome to the world of W. i. t. c. h.

Wayfire - Wayland compositor with 3d effects.

pekwm - pekwm is a window manager that once up on a time was based on the aewm++ window manager, but it has...

GNOME - An easy and elegant way to use your computer, GNOME is designed to put you in control and get things done.

Fences - Keep your desktop organized with Fences. This is a simple software program that allows you to sort the tabs on your desktop and create files that are easily recognizable to you.

Arcan - Game engine and multimedia framework and display server.