How much time of your home computing do you spend in 3D ?

[Dogbert]

Great 3D is nice, but I figred that I don't *really* need it since most of my computing time is in 2D.

[Dogbert]

An yes, we could also re-post this poll after Parhelia is out to see if there is any change

[Novdid]

I use 3d less than 10% of my time by the computer. But I also want that 3d time to be fast, PARHELIA TO THE RESQUE!!!

[GT98]

hey can you add 40% to the poll? I would say that is amount I spend gaming with my PC.


Scott

[GNEP]

At the moment: <20%

If the girl is away: >60%

Now all I have to do is get a new, fast 3D card when my job takes me abroad for a while... luckily that will mean more moolah too Wonder which card it will be?

(This is all assuming that I can get the computer shipped out)

[Steve_Cooper]

With a G550, under 30%......

When a certain new graphics card is out, ask me again

[Joel]

About 80% 2D vs 20% 3D but that is about to reverse itself very soon.

Joel

[TdB]

I have heard the next windows might get a 3d-gui....

[GNEP]

(sort of OT!)

I have heard the next windows might get a 3d-gui....

This has been the subject of many many research papers for years and years - do a quick search on google. Personally, I think that we are now getting to the point where the hardware could cope with relative ease. I have been playing around in my head with the concept of a fully 3-d (4-d with time) spreadsheet - as a financial analyst it could come in quite useful. Immediately the problem comes though with the lack of mainstream appropriate controllers to manipulate and update and view a 3d "cube" of numbers.

Also the clear representation of text isn't helped by being in 3d - most of my non-numbers work is to do with reading and writing, not surprisingly.

So would like to see a 3d Windows as a curiosity, but maybe not to work with. I would have to see something in action first.

From what I have seen, most research into 3d GUIs hinges on finding an appropriate "metaphor" for representing the apps you are using - perhaps this approach is misguided as I never really saw the relevance of real desk tops to the PC "desktop".

What does everyone else think?

gnep

[TdB]

i personally prefer the traditional "2d-desktop", over all the 3d-guis i have seen. the only things that would benefit the 3d, is graphs and pictures IMO, and 3d-pictures(like in "blade runner") would require some new technology that has yet to be invented.

some metaphors don´t need to be changed, like the "book-metaphor" used in word-processors, it is already as optimal as it can get, and i think the gui in most OS is as good as it can get too.
I can´t see how it can get any better, especially if you run many apps at once in different windows, a 3d-gui will most likely distort the gui in the windows, making it difficult to read text.

a 3d-gui would be the right thing if we had holographic displays, but right now we don´t have something like that. forcing an extra dimension on a 2d-monitor will make everything much more confusing, where you have to waste precious time rotating stuff on the screen just to see what is supposed to look like or to get it in front so that you can interact with it.
just imagine a 3d-cad program without a 2d-viewport...

an isometric 3d-gui, however could be usefull in some (few) cases.

[GNEP]

Perhaps we are all just too used to the current windows-type GUI. It didn't take long to pick up though when we had CLIs before...

I actually think that we will more likely see independent 3d apps (e.g. my spreadsheet idea above, perhaps sitting inside a 2d window) before the whole of windows etc move 3d.

Holo-displays would be nice though

gnep

[mmp121]

Back to the question at hand...

I use to spend a fair amount of my home computer time using my G400MAX (still in my main system) for 3D apps. 70% or more

But as of late because some newer games are pushing my tired old G400MAX to its limits, I have cut back on the 3D gaming.

But as soon as I get my hands on a Parhelia, its going to go back up to at least 50% of the time I'm sure.

[bibble]

I like the idea of holo displays too.. saw some demo's of 3d desktops last year and liked some of the ideas but bugger me were they slow...

[GNEP]

where did you see them bibble?

[bibble]

one was called something like GL desktop and came as a demo with a coverdisc. The other was a 3d version if IE where you looked into a cube but you couldnt read the other 4 pages and the one furthest away was small so that again was hard to read.

The OpenGL one was the best - sometimes youshot off into the distance and had to hunt for your desktop but as I said it was slow. tried t find it againbut its not on google. there is a 3d shopping one but its not the same.