Metisse: you though you knew what 3D was...

Posted Jan 29, 2007 0:47 UTC (Mon) by abovett (subscriber, #13139)
Parent article: Metisse: you thought you knew what 3D was...

I've spent a few hours _using_ Metisse (rather than just playing with it) and I think it's the first 3D desktop that I've actually found useful. I'm (mostly) a CLI/Emacs type of guy and no fan of gratuitous eye candy, but it does make managing multiple windows easier - and as many people have pointed out the visual cues will help less computer literate people.

I particularly like the bird's eye view (I seem to recall there's something similar in the next version of OS-X?) As for the people who say "What's the use? I know what's on my virtual desktops" - well, I'm impressed! Maybe you have a fairly static desktop layout but through the course of a day I open and close many different windows as I move from job to job and I can't always remember what I left where. This certainly makes it easier. It's probably down to different usage patterns - not everyone uses a PC in the same way - but I think this will be usful for many people.

I'm also impressed by how modest a system is required to run it - it works fine on some quite old PCs I've tried (sub 1 GHz with oldish graphics cards). The other 3D systems I've tried seemed to need a lot more grunt.

I don't think Metisse is perfect - the methods of using the 3D features are not "discoverable" enough for non-geeks, and there are a few rough edges - but it's definitely going in the right direction and I will be following developments with interest.

Andy B