How to remove unity 2d workspace animation?

Question

Unity 2d's workspace animation runs very slowly on my old graphics card. How do you disable them?

Answer 1

There is no simple way to disable the workspace switcher. It requires changes in the code of Unity 2D.

Answer 2

You can set transitionDuration = 0 in the file /usr/share/unity-2d/spreed/utils.js.

Answer 3

I'm running Ubuntu Precise, and the following did it for me:

• Run "CompizConfig Settings Manager" (not sure if it's installed by default)
• Select "Desktop Wall" under Desktop
• Disable "Show Viewport Switcher Preview"
• Select the "Viewport Switching" tab
• Set "Wall Sliding Duration" to zero

Now when switching desktops via the keyboard, I don't get any animations.

Answer 4

Install dconf-tools (should be available in Maverick, it definitely is in Natty. I'm on Lucid so I can't check). Open dconf-editor and search for unity. There are several tunables, though I'm not sure the workspace animation is one of them.

Answer 5

Probably the best solution is to log in with the "Classic Gnome Desktop" (drop-down menu is at the bottom of the GDM Greeter after selecting your username). This will avoid Unity completely.