Ubuntu users can get a the cool functionality of Windows 7’s “Aero Snap” with a few copy’s and a few pastes thanks to an awesome tutorial on the UbuntuForums by forum-er gotsanity. Props and cookies go to him for this.
What Is Aero Snap And Why Should I Use It?
For those who don’t know what Aero Snap is i shall try and sum it up in on sentence: Aero Snap allows you to minimize, maximize and resize windows by simply drag-dropping them to the sides of the screen.
It’s useful for comparing the contents of two windows side-by-side.
For example you have two tabs in Google Chrome open but want to view the contents side-by-side rather than having to switch tabs. Easy. Peel off one of the tabs, drag it to the left – BAM! Drag the second window to the right and – BOOM! There they are: –
Drag them away and ta-da! they resize back.
Enable “Aero Snap” In Ubuntu
You Will Need Compiz enabled and the following applications installed: –
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager wmctrl
Now you’re all set to begin.
- Open the Compiz Config Settings Manager (ALT+F2 ccsm, system > preferences > CompizConfig…, etc)
- Select the “Commands” option.
- In ‘Command Line 0’ paste: –
WIDTH=`xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions:' | cut -f 2 -d ':' | cut -f 1 -d 'x'` && HALF=$(($WIDTH/2)) && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b add,maximized_vert && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,0,0,$HALF,-1
- In ‘Command Line 1’ paste: –
WIDTH=`xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions:' | cut -f 2 -d ':' | cut -f 1 -d 'x'` && HALF=$(($WIDTH/2)) && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b add,maximized_vert && wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -e 0,$HALF,0,$HALF,-1
- And in ‘Command Line 2’ paste: –
wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b add,maximized_vert,maximized_horz
It should now look something like this: –
Now choose the ‘Edge Bindings’ tab at the top and set the following: –
- Run Command 0 – Set To Left
- Run Command 1 – Set To Right
- Run Command 2 – Set To Top
Click on the back button and go to ‘General options’.
Set the ‘Edge Trigger Delay’ to something around 400 – 500 by dragging the slider to the right.
Now all you have to do is drag a window to one of the specified sides and your window will automatically resize.