NationStates Jolt Archive

One of Vista's main selling points is its enhanced desktop display system. Dubbed either "Aero Glass" or "Flip 3D" depending on who you talk to, this graphical effect can render all your windows transparent and tilt them in 3D space, allowing you to fit more programs onto your desktop and sort through them quickly and easily.

http://media.arstechnica.com/staff.media/vista-flip-3d.jpg

Want all this eye candy without having to shell out a couple hundred bucks for the new OS? Well, look no further than Madotate (http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/05/3d-desktop-for-windows-xp/).

This free program does everything Vista can do -- and without putting a drain on your processing power. I'm running it smoothly on my Windows XP laptop, and the documentation says it is compatible with Windows 98 and Windows 2000, as well.

Here's a demonstration of the program on my desktop:

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/1782/clutterdn1.png

"Aaah! Clutter! Whatever shall I do?"

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7306/clutter2bd0.png

"Phew! Now I have room for more windows! Thanks, Madotate!"

The program lets you adjust transparency, the angle of the windows, and animations on the fly. You can also zoom in on the windows with the Page Up/Down keys or the mouse wheel, and move them with left-click.

If you want to install the program, here are the instructions:

1. Click here (http://davc73.free.fr/madotate/Madotate_2.02.02.zip) to download the ZIP file.
2. Use WinZip (http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm) to unzip all the contents into a folder, preferrably in your C:\ drive.
3. Double-click the "install.reg" file. Ignore all the scary warnings about editing your system registry.
4. Double-click the "madotate.exe" file to activate the program.
5. Double-click the "mtatecfg.exe" file to adjust the settings. I'm still testing it out, but I'm pretty sure that any changes you make here will only affect windows you open afterwards.

...and you're clear. If installed properly, a Madotate icon should appear in your taskbar, which will allow you to switch all 2D windows to 3D and vice-versa. Also, each window will have an extra button to the left of the Minimize button, which will let you shrink it to 3D mode.

I hope y'all enjoy it... :D

while cool (has been circulating on digg for awhile) Vista's differences do not end there...

Handy if you are just looking for the eye candy but in the end useless in a corporate or educational facility environment.

while cool (has been circulating on digg for awhile) Vista's differences do not end there...

Handy if you are just looking for the eye candy but in the end useless in a corporate or educational facility environment.

The company I work for is all gung-ho and there's a project to have everyone on Vista by the end of June or thereabouts. I do like the eye-candy, I must admit.

The company I work for is all gung-ho and there's a project to have everyone on Vista by the end of June or thereabouts. I do like the eye-candy, I must admit.

We switched for all staff machines in my department over a month ago, campus not moving over till next summer (working on the office 07 campus release in late may)

I do like some of the features (specially the advanced resource monitors), also the WPA auto detect in Vista is smart enough to relize by default that we use WPA TKIP-Enterprise and that we do not use certificate authentication (well self signed and the auth is done by AD)

What that means to our users is that they can click on the network and bam it is ready to go without making the 7 + changes to XP required

It works for a bit for me but then quits with an error in Japanese. Maybe because I have two cards, one very old.

LOL, this makes vista even more fail then it already was!

What's one supposed to accomplish by having lots of windows in the distance and facing diagonally away from the user? I just maximise everything and switch apps by clicking on the taskbar or using alt+tab.

Eye candy only lasts a week. After that, I generally turn it off. :mad:

how big's the program? it looks fun but i have limited disk space.

how big's the program? it looks fun but i have limited disk space.

Me too I am down to 1 TB free ...

how big's the program? it looks fun but i have limited disk space.

The zip file is 390KB. Unzipped, it's about 840KB. I'm not sure how weighty the graphics are, but I can say that it runs fine on my laptop.

It works for a bit for me but then quits with an error in Japanese. Maybe because I have two cards, one very old.
Does it happen when you try to adjust the settings from the taskbar or from right-clicking a 3D window? That happens to me, too. If you want to adjust the settings, you're going to have to go to the "mtatecfg.exe" file. Just save it in a convenient, accessible place and you'll be good.

One of Vista's main selling points is its enhanced desktop display system. Dubbed either "Aero Glass" or "Flip 3D" depending on who you talk to, this graphical effect can render all your windows transparent and tilt them in 3D space, allowing you to fit more programs onto your desktop and sort through them quickly and easily.

http://media.arstechnica.com/staff.media/vista-flip-3d.jpg

Want all this eye candy without having to shell out a couple hundred bucks for the new OS? Well, look no further than Madotate (http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/05/3d-desktop-for-windows-xp/).

This free program does everything Vista can do -- and without putting a drain on your processing power. I'm running it smoothly on Windows XP, and the documentation says it is compatible with Windows 98 and Windows 2000, as well.

Here's a demonstration of the program on my desktop:



The program lets you adjust transparency, the angle of the windows, and animations on the fly. You can also zoom in on the windows with the Page Ip/Down keys or the mouse wheel, and move them with left-click.

If you want to install the program, here are the instructions:



...and you're clear. If installed properly, a Madotate icon should appear in your taskbar, which will allow you to switch all 2D windows to 3D and vice-versa. Also, each window will have an extra button to the left of the Minimize button, which will let you shrink it to 3D mode.

I hope y'all enjoy it... :D

I cannot thank you enough.

I don't like it. Now if you could find me one that does the same thing as the window resizing in OSX - that I would be interested in. Simple and effective.

The zip file is 390KB. Unzipped, it's about 840KB. I'm not sure how weighty the graphics are, but I can say that it runs fine on my laptop.

cool, can probably cope with that.

Me too I am down to 1 TB free ...

is that one terra byte?! holy crap! i have about 300mega bytes left!

Does it happen when you try to adjust the settings from the taskbar or from right-clicking a 3D window? That happens to me, too. If you want to adjust the settings, you're going to have to go to the "mtatecfg.exe" file. Just save it in a convenient, accessible place and you'll be good.

Basically when making a window 3D and the 2D again. I'll test further at home where I have a single more modern video card.

is that one terra byte?! holy crap! i have about 300mega bytes left!
http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/IMZ/IMZ105/tri0007.jpg

Mmm... terra bite... :p

is that one terra byte?! holy crap! i have about 300mega bytes left!

Yeah I have 6 250 GB samsung spinpoints on a Raid5 (1 TB there) and two Seagate's (250's) independent on that one machine

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/IMZ/IMZ105/tri0007.jpg

Mmm... terra bite... :p

*groans*

Just a quick update: I discovered that you can "anchor" windows to the top, bottom, left, or right sides of the screen by left-clicking and dragging in the desired direction. Also, you can manually rotate the windows on whichever axis you want by right-clicking and dragging. Very useful for custom rearrangements. :cool:

Until they implement multiple desktops, Windows will continue to phail at managing my clutter.

Me too I am down to 1 TB free ...
*covers tiny HDD to hide shame*

Until they implement multiple desktops, Windows will continue to phail at managing my clutter.

Ultramon combined with xp/vista has some cool features that span task bar and stuff that helps with my active clutter. Its not bad ... when I have to use it

*covers tiny HDD to hide shame*

Thats ok untill a year or two ago when I built this system I lived with 80 gb without an issue I just do so much data backup that it becomes a nessecity

Ultramon combined with xp/vista has some cool features that span task bar and stuff that helps with my active clutter. Its not bad ... when I have to use it
Seems like a not bad idea. Still gives you only two taskbars...

Seems like a not bad idea. Still gives you only two taskbars...

Agreed not the best solution but with dual wide screens (they gave me 20 inch wides at work and I have 19's here) it is enough room for my style, and at work I have to operate in that environment ... At least vista is close enough for me to use it to tweek because Windows multi monitor support still is lacking

Not saying I like it better then the *nix solutions just that it seems to be enough for me to effectively do what I need to do in an efficient manner

Thats ok untill a year or two ago when I built this system I lived with 80 gb without an issue I just do so much data backup that it becomes a nessecity
I haven't passed 35% usage, so I'm not too worried. Since I've stopped using Windows completely, I doubt it is going to make it there again any time soon.

I haven't passed 35% usage, so I'm not too worried. Since I've stopped using Windows completely, I doubt it is going to make it there again any time soon.

My media collection is growing massive ... but other then that data backups make up 90 percent of my room when I am hitting my stride (usually hit the 1 TB limit when doing full load of computers)

My media collection is growing massive ... but other then that data backups make up 90 percent of my room when I am hitting my stride (usually hit the 1 TB limit when doing full load of computers)
Unfortunately, my media collection got its ass kicked by a power failure. Was transferring the files to a usb key, and forgot to check the integrity of the files that were on the disk. I lost pretty much everything that I did not have on a disk.

Unfortunately, my media collection got its ass kicked by a power failure. Was transferring the files to a usb key, and forgot to check the integrity of the files that were on the disk. I lost pretty much everything that I did not have on a disk.

at about 80 gb music another 150 + music vids/ tv shows and the like I have issues with anything but large removable devices :)

at about 80 gb music another 150 + music vids/ tv shows and the like I have issues with anything but large removable devices :)
I'm using 5GB including the OS. :eek:

But then, I am on a fresh install with a fairly new /home.

Snip
'tis quite cool, but it doesn't support multiple monitors. Just so ya know. =)

'tis quite cool, but it doesn't support multiple monitors. Just so ya know. =)

Drawback for me ...
http://geek.upwardthrust.us/pictures/computers/dual.jpg (posted link so I would not frame break with a 2880 x 900 pic)

I have to admit that I have no idea why this was the selling point for Vista. To me, it sounds like a completely useless function.

Now security improovements in Vista are a completely different thing. Those, I'm willing to buy for.

I have to admit that I have no idea why this was the selling point for Vista. To me, it sounds like a completely useless function.

Now security improovements in Vista are a completely different thing. Those, I'm willing to buy for.

Some greater support tools, better networking (specially wireless, xp pre SP2 blew)

Also from a deployment standpoint Vista has some really interesting changes to your roaming profile ability from what I hear.

Here's a humorous article about the joys of installing Vista:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6407419.stm

sounds like a pain in the butt to me. I'll wait until everyone else has got updated drivers for it.

Also - doesn't Vista have DRM embedded? So it'll stop downloading non-DRM material?
not that I do of course. It's just a theoretical question. honest

Drawback for me ...
http://geek.upwardthrust.us/pictures/computers/dual.jpg (posted link so I would not frame break with a 2880 x 900 pic)

Lol cowbell.

I thought Vista was Windows' attempt to make a PC that felt like a Mac.

Here's a humorous article about the joys of installing Vista:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6407419.stm

sounds like a pain in the butt to me. I'll wait until everyone else has got updated drivers for it.

Also - doesn't Vista have DRM embedded? So it'll stop downloading non-DRM material?
not that I do of course. It's just a theoretical question. honest

Not that I know of

They do have end to end verification for HD content though ... i have heard that being a bit of a pain with some display styles


As for installing it, it worked out of the box even with my weird ass hardware for the most part (trendnet wireless card not found though)

Lol cowbell.

I thought Vista was Windows' attempt to make a PC that felt like a Mac.

Personally think some of the features were more prevalent in the *nix world long before MAC stold some of them from them

Compiz/xgl style WM seems to be a pool they both stole some from ...

Not that I know of

They do have end to end verification for HD content though ... i have heard that being a bit of a pain with some display styles


As for installing it, it worked out of the box even with my weird ass hardware for the most part (trendnet wireless card not found though)
hmmmm....I think I'll still wait a while until some of the more major bugs are ironed out and more companies get their updated drivers out.

Eye candy FTW!