let it be known that i am not a bandwagoner with this and have used beryl since one of its early, less stable variations. i just had to confirm my status of original gangster before people call me out as a fake nerd, which would totally damage my credibility, you know?

beryl now is MUCH more stable and as far as a rival to vista’s visual components i believe beryl far surpasses microsoft’s efforts. plus, beryl is actively developed and therefore updates are frequent, giving a lot more flexibility in user input.

i rock an nvidia card - the old ATI i had in here for some reason didn’t play very well with compiz, however things may have changed since a nurga last messed with it.

obviously, before messing with this guide, grab the nvidia drivers from your synaptics package manager and change your xorg.conf to reflect nvidia instead of nv.

to add the correct repositories, holla at the options in the package manager and select the restricted and multiverse repos as well.

from ubuntuguide.org:

How to install Beryl/AIGLX (Nvidia)
(From Ubuntu Forums)

Ensure all packages up to date
Install your *ubuntu-desktop metapackage specific to your DE, e.g. sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Add repositories
gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add the following line at the end of this file (x86 and amd64):
deb http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/ edgy main

Add key
wget http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/root@lupine.me.uk.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Save the edited file then update package lists
sudo apt-get update

Install Beryl
sudo apt-get install beryl emerald-themes

Back up xorg.conf
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf_backup
gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Add this to xorg.conf “Screen” section
# Enable 32-bit ARGB GLX Visuals
Option “AddARGBGLXVisuals” “True”

# If you are using an older version of compiz that
# does not support rendering into the Composite
# Overlay Window, you will need to disable clipping
# of GLX rendering to the X Root window with this
# option, or you will get a blank screen after
# starting compiz:
Option “DisableGLXRootClipping” “True”

Add this to xorg.conf “Device” section
Option “TripleBuffer” “true”

Restart X with ctrl+alt+backspace

Start Beryl (if it doesn’t start on its own)
beryl-manager

Start Emerald (if it doesn’t start on its own)
emerald –replace

Have Beryl and Emerald load on login
System -> Preferences -> Sessions
Startup Programs -> Add
beryl-manager
and

emerald –replace

If, on reboot, program menus aren’t displaying in the correct layer (you can’t see them when you select them because they are displaying behind the window) then right click on the ‘Beryl Manager’ icon in the panel (the red gem icon) and select ‘Reload Window Manager’. The problem should be solved the next time you reboot.

holla at p. nis for more info,
ytcracker