Calum: >> It was a research project that never had enough resources to develop >> into a complete desktop or supported product. It was cool demoware, >> but never really progressed beyond that. > > IMHO, it never really had a great deal of potential anyway... people > have been trying to make 3D desktops on 2D displays with 2D input > devices for literally decades now, and they've pretty much all failed to > be any more useful than what we had already.
I somewhat disagree with the statement that the desktop isn't any more useful. I do find that some 3D effects do make using the desktop more usable. Just the concept of one window being "in front of" another is useful. I also do prefer using Compiz, for example, when working on a machine that can handle it. However, I do agree that what people call "3D" in desktop environments like GNOME is not really true "3D". > If we really want to move from 2D to 3D interactions, then displays and > input devices are really going to have to evolve at the same time as the > desktop itself. I very much agree. When will we be using OpenSolaris while sporting 3D glasses, a chorded keyboard[1], and a PC (or will it be a phone) in our pocket, all talking via bluetooth or somesuch? :) Brian [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded_keyboard
