(re)size matters
Been experiencing some annoyances on my old desktop, running ubuntu 14.10 64-bit with a Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS/PCIe/SSE2, when resizing windows, especially (google) chrome windows. The windows would sometimes not redraw correctly on resize, and even lock completely up (freeze). As cozy as I feel sitting at that old linux desktop, this has been really frustrating. But I also know there is usually a fix here, and an adjustment there available in the linux world - just a matter of googling the right thing to find a solution. I made a few attempts to search for a solution with no success, until now that I found something that seems to at least provide a workaround, so I'll note it down here:
"get CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm) and you go down to "Workarounds" in the "Utility" Category and check the box that says "Force full screen redraws (buffer swap) on repaint"" and "seem to have fixed it by going into CCSM>Workarounds>Force synchronization between X and GLX" (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/1314367)
In CompizConfig Settings Manager: "Look under Window Management -> Resize Window -> General -> Default Resize Mode" and change it to Outline (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2230972 <- http://askubuntu.com/questions/291386/how-do-i-enable-live-window-resizing-in-ubuntu-13-04)
What I haven't tried: "Running Chrome with --blacklist-accelerated-compositing makes the flickering go away" (https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=326995) and "/etc/chromium/default < CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--ignore-gpu-blacklist" " (https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=182423) ...but I haven't found a similar config file for Google Chrome.
Performing the actions in the first two bullets seems to have window resizing behave correctly, though not as smoothly as the hardware should be capable of, but in a way that is more likely to preserve my sanity - which was in jeopardy when I was using this machine on a project, tired and in a hurry and not at all in the mood for a fight with graphic glitches in the operating system. Removing Compiz altogether could be an option, but I really like its Grid plugin, allowing me to quickly resize and move windows without touching the mouse, which is a feature I miss on the mac, though I actually bought an OS X plugin for that, it's just not as quick to use.