Get the Beryl/Ubuntu "Desktop Cube" Effect for Windows
If you are jealous of your geeky linux friends that have Beryl running under linux, you should check out Yod'm 3D, a small application for Windows XP / Vista that will give you a decent substitute for the "Desktop Cube" effect.
Without further ado, here's a nice screenshot of it in action.
In the screenshot, you'll notice the stars in the background. If you want to customize the background picture, you can replace the jpg image in the program folder:
If you want each desktop to have it's own wallpaper, you can change the wallpaper for that desktop by switching to the desktop and then set the wallpaper the normal windows way.
I found that the transitions are just a little bit slow (especially on older hardware), but tolerable. I probably wouldn't use this on a regular basis, but it's a nice piece of eye candy to show off. Note that this is the same guy that made the Visual Tooltip software I wrote about before.
Update: This software is no longer free. I've updated the link to the new site
I love your site and all the tips that you give out, but I have to say that yod'm3d hardly comes close to a "decent substitute" for beryl's cube effect.
Kenny,
It's definitely not a substitute for Beryl… nothing is. =)
hey man thanks for this find. Im using it right now and its pretty sweet. i like how its easy to tweak. great blog.
I just stumbled here and now you are bookmarked. This is a great site!
how do i get a windows vista taskbar on XP?
nice but not even close… the cube seems flat.
I WILL TRY THIS…
It's GREAT !!
Now, if you could look UP and DOWN when in zoom mode, it would be a killer !
NICE !
Excelente Blog, gracias por la recomendación.
Saludos.
the cube has a garbled screenshoot when it rotates! what's up with that? I am running XP
can you give me a link to that pier picture you have for the screenshot?? it looks amazing and thanks for all of your help
This is only like beryl in the since that it is the cube!
You can not move windows between cubes!
Also with beryl u get a 360 degree view of all workstations!
With this u cant!
My Yod'm is in French and i can't change it, it's so annoying.
Very cool and nice eye candy. Works like a champ on Vista Business on my HP Pavilion DV5000 laptop with a 128mb video card. Smooth and even … very pleased!
Gustav - It starts in French, but start up the app and you can change the language to various others (i.e. English)
Unfortunately it looks like another company has purchased the source code & is going to sell it now. Good for the developer, bad for the community (if it costs $, of course!). Good thing I got a copy prior!
Found a site that still has the 'DESKTOP CUBE, and yes you can change the language.
http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1286
Thanks, Icepick… hopefully that'll help others.
Fantastic!!! Still not quite a subtitute for Beryl or Compiz under Linux (Ubuntu especially!) but nice all the same. It's definately one of the better features of Beryl… But I really want some wibbly-wobbly Beryl-windows in my Vista… now THAT would be too cool!!!
this is a very cool idea
There's an even better one here - http://www.cubedesktop.com/
"""""Confabulous
This is only like beryl in the since that it is the cube!
You can not move windows between cubes!
Also with beryl u get a 360 degree view of all workstations!
With this u cant!"""
….
yes you can move windows between cubes…click the title bar of that window then hold, then at the same time press your activation keys (default shft+ctrl)..then drag ur window to the next cube face…it works….i tried it and am loving it…=)
theres a minor bug though..whenever i copy paste a folder for the first time after reboot, it would show on my desktop…i had to go to the folder that contains the "desktop" folder within windws explorer…but other than that its great…
true..beryl is way better…but then again…im not running linux just for that…for now at least…=)
The link to the thing isn't working anymore. It says:
410 Gone
Vhost 'chsalmon.club.fr' Not Found.
Anybody know where to find this?
@ph15h
This software unfortunately is no longer free, it was sold to somebody else. I updated the article with the new link.
ei…for those looking for this….try this…the free version: http://www.mediafire.com/?1inzwnysdxz
All right people u should try "Shock4Wat 3D" it is betterthan beryl a lot more features with animated backgrounds and all its insanely easy to use customize it to how u like , CUBE, INSIDE, FLIP, GRAPH, and WAVY CUBE
he he he ubuntu better with compiz fusion but you need a good graphics card and video card to give it bests viewing of the cube so i prefere the yodm 3d for sysyem 32 and 64 and linux a good card i have linux its great but not like windows accept you need buy all the software like cubedesktop etc but im aiming to the hardy heron this march to download so everthing is good
The Geek,
yes it is its called Vista
Hey, Corey, a google search of "Shock4Wat 3D" comes up with one result linking to this site
Hey, let's take an idea from free software, build an inferior product, and then charge people money for it.
Does no one else find this funny?
I've been using CubeDesktop and works like a charm!
I think that How-To-Geek should make a review of this software!
its cool really cool