It has been some time since the stunning (if somewhat theatrical) Burn My Windows GNOME Shell extension introduced a fresh effect to delight enthusiasts of extravagant window opening and closing animations.
However, with the release of Burn My Windows v44, now available on GNOME Extensions, it brings an exciting new feature – and it’s quite enchanting!
The new effect, known as Focus, offers a subtler and more thoughtful design in comparison to the other animations featured in the application. It creates a blur and fade effect upon closing windows, as you can witness in the linked demonstration:
Users can now manage the duration of animations, the degree of blur, and the quality of that blur. A lower blur quality results in a quicker overall effect. Most systems should be capable of handling this well, and I tested it on a virtual machine without any issues.
Additional Updates
There is now a total of over 20 effects available, including the classic flame/fire effect alongside newer options like the painted brush stroke. Users will need to browse through the animations list to locate their desired effect.
A new effect search bar has been introduced in the extension’s Preferences dialog, allowing users to quickly find the quirky effect they want to enable, configure, or disable, especially after it causes a bit of a headache!
Other updates are reported to include the ability to make more precise adjustments to animation durations, with a range of 0.1s to 3s now available for all effects, along with improved translations and various fixes for KDE users.
“KDE?! – I thought this was a GNOME extension!”
Indeed, Burn My Windows is not limited to GNOME Shell users. Many of its effects are also compatible with KDE Plasma (KWin 5.25.0 or later) and can be installed directly from the KDE Store within KDE Plasma itself – how cool is that?
With this update, Burn My Windows introduces distinct packages for both KDE Plasma 5 and 6 for every effect. Users looking to install the effects from the KDE Store should ensure they select the version appropriate for their release.
For GNOME users, it’s advisable to avoid the GNOME Extensions website for this extension, or alternatively, utilize the Extension Manager application. The latest iteration is compatible with GNOME 45+ (for instance, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and newer).
If you’re using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, there’s no need for disappointment, as previous versions of this extension (though lacking some features and effects) are still available for installation.
• Download Burn My Windows on GNOME Extensions