I was very happy four days ago, when I heard, that Novell contributes in a truely Open Source manner to the 3D enhancement of the X-Window system. Them doing everything right and integrating it into X.org, where every window-manager profits from, made me even happier.
About a year ago, when I first heard about M$'s Windows Vista, which shall get a fancy 3D Desktop environment, I was a little concerned, that this might slow down Linux adoption for the masses, since eye candy counts more for them, than technological advantage. I already tested the X.org compositing extension, but it is slow and unstable though not providing much more than transparency and shadows. John "maddog" Hall recently made a good point about the 'Vista-threat' though: Microsoft has a problem says maddog @ itwire.com. The extreme hardware requirements being a big obstacle for the adoption of Vista - which was an eyeopener and a little relief.

What though really, really relieved me, was seeing, that Novell's XGL is up to whatever there comes! :)
Yes, there is a video available, check it out! It's worth it!! Prepare to stand in awe! Novell has some on their web-site, but here is a downloadable XVid-version:

Compiz Window Manager Released
Get it! And spread it!

M$'s Vista Vapourware doesn't stand any chance against XGL:

• Vista needs high-end machines to run
  • One In Two PCs Won't Run Vista's Interface @ slashdot.org
• XGL is said to run even on Intel's i810 integrated graphics-chip
  • Which is believable since it utilizes the OpenGL standard
• Vista's technology just plain sucks - using DirectX9 at least
• Vista's eye candy and usability enhancements are ridiculous compared to XGL
• XGL runs even faster than a classical 2D-Desktop

Looking Glass was already a good start, but flawed from the ground up, not having enough performance - fixing this and getting it stable seems like a task, that's not really worth it. But now, with XGL, Linux got an already bleeding-edge 3D-Desktop and considering, that most Linux Desktops are better in usability and feature-count than Windows counterparts, it's only a matter of time, when we will do stuff, that you for now only know from Sci-Fi movies. Vista lost already, it looks dusty though it's still only vapour! M$ was pushed onto the loosing lane a big bit!

Thanks Novell!