Awesome KDE, Java composite hacks

I’ve been experimenting with the awesome tiling window manager as a replacement to KDE’s kwin, and I’ve managed to hack together a recipe for getting them up an running. It’s surprisingly simple, although the learing curve was a little steep.

This post documents what I’ve done to get things working nicely with the basic awesome config. No customisations here, see the awesome wiki for some ideas.
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MS-Windows focus-follows-mouse Registry hacks

I like the “focus follows mouse” window-focussing model from X11, because

  • I don’t have to click on the window, just move the mouse and the window it’s over is focussed
  • I can focus a window without bringing it to the front, which is sometimes handy. If I want it in front, I can click it.

However MS-Windows follows the old-fashioned, Macintosh/Smalltalk style of having users click on a window to focus it for the keyboard. How do you make MS-Windows behave more like X11?

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Microsoft Vista keyboard?

I spotted a “Vista compatable” keyboard in K-Mart the other day, which set me thinking… what would a Vista keyboard actually do that a “non-Vista” keyboard can’t?

Then I Googled for “Microsoft Keyboard Vista” and found this ad from Microsoft (Google Cache).

What the? “Designed to make it easier than ever to control PC media from your desk, your lap–or even from the comfort of your couch”. So… if I use this keyboard’s Play button to try and play media that Vista’s DRM system thinks I shouldn’t be playing, does it administer an electric shock? What if I have the keyboard in my lap :-D   Ouch! No so comfortable now…

Thanks, Microsoft, but … ahem, no thanks!