Project Looking Glass, the first true 3D desktop enviroment to ever be implemented in an OS.
any standard linux machine running a standard java desktop, will be able to run looking glass.
Here's what you can expect from this prototype operating system environment Schwartz described as "just a thought."
- The desktop background looks 3D, and moves subtly as you operate the mouse.
- Applications, once launched, take on 3D characteristics. You can spin them around; move them to the edges and they fold away; click away to another app and they become translucent. The coolest feature was a Real Player client running a new Java advertisement. When Schwartz spun Real Player upside down you could watch the video playing backwards.
- You can easily resize applications with the click and drag of a mouse. It seems a little more flexible than similar operations in Windows.
Why did Sun show off such an early demo? The message, albeit not a new one, is that Sun's serious about the open source on the desktop. Illustrating the point, Schwartz demonstrated the capabilities of Mad Hatter by downloading Microsoft's financial statement using Mozilla. Next he used StarOffice to transform one line of figures into a 3D chart, and added a label. Microsoft's Windows income statement became "Sun's StarOffice Opportunity."
Sun certainly is opportunistic, in a familiar sort of way. The evangelical feel of the keynote, compelling user interface demo, and Sun Java advertisement with its "think different" just keeps bringing me back to the core, so to speak.
What you read doesn't mean a thing, its not untill you actually watch the demo that you realise how ground breaking this new desktop is.
http://www.chem.crapness.com/lgcommercial.mp4
