WINDOWS VISTA AERO VS LINUX UBUNTU BERYL
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters cite it as the widely seen nostalgic video from the era when Linux desktop effects outpaced Vista.
What it is
A 2007 side-by-side demo comparing Windows Vista's Aero interface with Ubuntu running Beryl/Compiz, showing effects such as the desktop cube and burning windows.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2022 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Cites quadrifoliate · 2022-01 · on “Burn My Windows”
I instinctively expected to hear the notes of "Here Comes the Hotstepper" when I clicked on that video. I was expecting [this video] which was somewhat popular to send around to show comparisons of how Compiz was so far ahead it could not just replicate Vista's interface, but could also better it in some aspects like the famous 3D cube. Thanks to you and others for working on it! Looking at the video almost 15 years later, I feel wistful for the joy that accompanied some of these desktop effects, and wonder where it has gone today.
Cites chrismorgan · 2022-01 · on “Burn My Windows”
$ yt-dlp -F [this video] [youtube] [this video] Downloading webpage [youtube] [this video] Downloading android player API JSON [info] Available formats for [this video] ID EXT RESOLUTION FPS │ FILESIZE TBR PROTO │ VCODEC VBR ACODEC ABR ASR MORE INFO ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── sb2 mhtml 48x27 │ mhtml │ images storyboard sb1 mhtml 60x45 │ mhtml │ images storyboard sb0 mhtml 120x90 │ mhtml │ images storyboard 139 m4a │ 1.55MiB 47k https │ audio only mp4a.40.5 47k 22050Hz low, m4a_dash 140 m4a │ 4.13MiB 127k https │ audio only mp4a.40.2 127k 44100Hz medium, m4a_dash 251 webm │ 4.11MiB 126k https │ audio only opus 126k 48000Hz mediu
Cites seltzered_ · 2023-11 · on “In KDE, the Desktop Cube is back”
"Here comes the hotstepper..." ( see [LINK] for context linking to a popular video [this video] from 2007 demoing some cube effects alongside burning windows and such.)
Cites aranelsurion · 2025-09 · on “Asciinema CLI 3.0 rewritten in Rust, adds live streaming, upgrades file format”
Compiz. Beryl. Compiz Fusion. Unlocks some fun memories. Also this video has some 6 million views now: [this video] . I remember watching it and being awed by the cube effect.