Ubuntu
compiz package

Differing behaviour of Alt-Tab window switcher

Asked by Alan Kaminsky

I am running Ubuntu Lucid 10.04. I have three user accounts on the system. The Alt-Tab key behaves differently in different accounts.

In accounts 1 and 2, when I type Alt-Tab, the window switcher applet pops up, the window being selected shows on the screen, and all other windows become temporarily invisible; as I continue to hit Tab while holding Alt, a different window becomes visible and the other windows are invisible; when I release Alt, the applet disappears, and all the windows become visible again with the selected window on top.

In account 3, when I type Alt-Tab, the window switcher applet pops up, all the windows stay visible, and the window being selected is highlighted with a thin black border; as I continue to hit Tab while holding Alt, the highlighted border moves from window to window; when I release Alt, the applet disappears, and the selected window comes to the top.

My questions are:

- Why does Alt-Tab behave differently in different user accounts?

- How can I get Alt-Tab in account 3 to behave the same as Alt-Tab in accounts 1 and 2?

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Alan Kaminsky
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

You have set a different option in ccsm. You can configure it by pressing ALT+F2 and run:

ccsm

You can then select the window switcher (or even ring switcher) plugin to run when you press the hotkey you desire

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Alan Kaminsky (akaminsky) said : 		#2

actionparsnip:

Thank you for your reply. However, your answer was not correct. In all three accounts, CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm) is configured to use the Static Application Switcher (under Window Management); in all three accounts, the settings for the Static Application Switcher are configured the same.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

Try setting it to a different behaviour (disable the usual switcher and use ring switcher), then set it back. Does that help?

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Alan Kaminsky (akaminsky) said : 		#4

In account 3, I ran ccsm, disabled the Static Application Switcher, enabled the Ring Switcher, and exited ccsm. This did not change the behavior of the Alt-Tab key. I ran ccsm again, went into the Ring Switcher configuration, set the next window key to Alt-Tab (it had been Super-Tab), and exited ccsm. Now hitting Alt-Tab didn't do anything at all. I put everything back the way it was.

I tried doing the same thing in account 1. There it worked. I was able to go back and forth between the Ring Switcher and the Static Application Switcher.

Could it be that account 3 is somehow not using Compiz? Can Compiz be completely turned off in an account?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#5

Sure, a user can have a startup item to run:

metacity --replace

or may have simply disabled desktop effects. Each user has its own settings for all apps so this is completely feasible.

If you run:

compiz --replace

It will turn compiz on for the user account, does that make it fly?

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Alan Kaminsky (akaminsky) said : 		#6

I found the problem. In account 3, under the System -> Preferences -> Appearance menu, Visual Effects was set to None. In account 1, Visual Effects was set to Normal. I changed Visual Effects to Normal in account 3, then Alt-Tab worked properly in account 3.

What I still can't explain is why the Visual Effects setting should be different, when to my knowledge I have not touched that setting in any of the accounts.

Anyway, it works now. Thanks for your help!

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Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure) said : 		#7

Assuming the issue has been resolved to your satisfaction, you can mark this Question as Solved.

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Alan Kaminsky (akaminsky) said : 		#8

Yes, this question is solved.