Composite managers are another software layer that sits between the user interface and the software model, and are basically used to bring 3d processing to the user interface.  Where there used to be a single plane node and sprites would be drawn on it, the computer with a composite manager will first draw 3d nodes and then put the sprites on those nodes.  The result is tons of beautiful effects.

For example, the desktop can be drawn as a cube and sub-nodes placed on it, and the computer only zooms out when changing the face of the cube.  The result is the desktop cube.

..:: Now for the Videos

The first minute and a half is Vista’s Aero. When you get to the 3:00 remaining, the rest is all CF. If you’re wondering why CF got more screen time, it’s because, well, CF’s feature list dwarfs Aero’s.

..:: Beryl + Compiz = Compiz Fusion

Note that Beryl is still being extended and was a fork of the Compiz project. The two have re-merged and are now under the name of CF. Check out a few of the preliminary videos. This video has a working version in Ubuntu Feisty which came out mid-2007.