Rich Teer wrote: > On Thu, 13 Mar 2008, Bob Friesenhahn wrote: > > >> There are different kinds of user. The typical "PC" type user opens >> one application, sets it to consume the whole screen, then works only >> with that application until he is done. Typical unix power-users may >> quite often switch between applications. I fit into the later >> category. >> > > I don't think this point can be emphasised enough. It's also one reason > why us UNIX users like bigger (higher res) screens than our Windoze > counterparts. One simply doesn't need as much screen real estate if one > only runs one app at a time. > I agree. Ever since my Amiga days and experiences with Sun/SGI/DEC workstations, Windows/Mac people look at the number of open windows on my desktop and ask if I'm trying to break the computer. > Large screens are the main reason why I don't like the idea of the Launch > or Start button. If my mouse is in the top right corner of the screen, > the last thing I want to do when I launch a new app is drag it several > thousand pixels to the bottem left Launch button. CDE's "right click on > the desk top to bring up the launch menu" is an ease-of-use winner here. > Except when you can't find a blank spot on the desktop, which can easily happen when you have many application windows open on a laptop screen. This is also why I don't like the default of two panel layout in GNOME/Ubuntu/Indiana Preview2. The fact that many laptops now come with wide screen aspect ratios means you're furthur limiting your application's vertical screen real estate with something that some of us find a bit redundant. The first thing I do when I install Ubuntu is remove the extra panel and consolidate commonly launched applications into a single root menu.
My preferred default layout would be: 1 Panel with application launch menu in the lower left corner. Application launch menu contains a top level: All Applications Browser (firefox) Email client (profile data at my site shows 22% evolution 78% thunderbird so I'd give thunderbird the edge for a "developer desktop") IRC Client Office suite Recent Documents Recent Applications System Applications Terminal Preferences To the right of the launch menu I'd put: Clock Show desktop applet Window List Notification Area Trash Applet To the right of the trash applet, I'd put hardware devices which may vary depending on what HAL tells the desktop is available: Don't install a speaker applet unless a sound card is detected. Don't install a network monitor applet on Sun Ray or on systems where NWAM is enabled. Don't install bat stat on systems which don't have a battery/power management. Finally, Window selector (replacing workspace switcher since it automagically moves you to the right workspace) If we must have 2 panels, make one of them autohide. Consider putting one along the side if the aspect ratio is less than 4:3. I'd like to see the window selector in the opposite corner of one of them. If we 're willing to consider a cleaner break from the MS Windows paradigm... The screen real estate occupied by the titlebar of each open window is important for left-button dragging, but right clicking along the entire length of this border brings up the same, seldom-used menu as you get when left clicking the corner of the window. Could we better use this real-estate by creating an area which brings up a menu containing (for instance), the last 10 applications launched, last 10 windows accessed? At the very least metacity (which draws these borders) should have access to the window stack, so maybe provide access to the top 10 windows in the stack. Or right clicking a titlebar could invoke "show desktop" though the desktop menu would have to have an "undo show desktop" I consider the desktop to be a more appropriate space for mapping data locations rather than applications: Icon for my computer Icon for my home directorssy Icon for my documents Icon for network places
