This was inspired by the discussion "Window controls for GNOME 3" by Owen Taylor -- https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-shell-list/2011-February/msg00192.html
===================================================================== I think it's important for people to know a bit about how I use my computer if they are to get anything out of reading my feedback -- so here goes: I am a CS student who frequently use SSH from terminals while reading junk in Firefox or epiphany and having several editors open (either gedit or anjuta) and compiling stuff in more terminals and talking to people in Pidgin and listening to music almost all of the time. I have two monitors. The primary monitor is 22" and the secondary is 20". I group my windows so that my main editor is maximized on the primary monitor, have a gnome-terminal with multiple tabs taking up half the left of the secondary monitor and (usually) one IM session upon to talk to people about the code I'm editing on the right half of the secondary monitor. I usually have everything else in separate desktops. ===================================================================== The important stuff: (De)Maximize/Minimize buttons: ===================================================================== I don't miss the (de)maximize/minimize buttons at all Close button: ===================================================================== Getting rid of the close button didn't hurt at all. I now close by hitting ALT+F4 or killing it in the overview. Maximized windows and title bars: ===================================================================== The extra bar below the top bar bar is annoying when maximizing a window I suggest fusing the title bar of a window with the top bar when maximized and possibly moving the clock to the side: Current layout AI ---- C ---- MU ------- T ------- Becomes one of AI ---- T --- CMU or AI ---- T --- MCU A = Activity area I = current Icon (may want to get rid of that as well) T = Title C = Clock M = Menu area (volume control, networkmanager interface etc) U = User menu This is especially nice on low resolution monitors since the top bar + a title bar takes up a lot of space (I, for example, always go fullscreen when I can on my EEE, which does not have GNOME 3). Problems: It may be confusing for people when there's nothing that separates the window from the rest of the desktop. It may be even more confusing if maximized windows on secondary monitors look different from a maximized window on the primary monitor. Horizontal desktops missing: ===================================================================== This is really annoying. Especially when GNOME 3.0 is so focused on using desktops. My ideal interface would be having horizontal desktops, with each vertical desktop having it's own list of with one of them being marked "current" (which means this is the desktop to switch to when switching to that desktop) -- new desktops would be created by moving a desktop (ctrl+alt+right arrow) to a new desktop or by clicking some icon on the desktop in the overview (an empty desktop for example) Problems: May take up too much space in the overview. May be confusing if people have more than one physical monitor Volume control: ===================================================================== Since pulseaudio has per-application volume control it may be a good idea to allow the user to control the volume of an app in the window of that app, rather than forcing the user to open the volume control, pick a tab with a list of connected apps, look for the app and then change the volume. Problems: can't really see any, except that it means GNOME 3 is tied up with pulseaudio. But that may not be a real problem. Could be done using plugins if that's in place. Otherwise it might be a good reason to put plugins in place. Music: ===================================================================== I'm missing a music "tab" (correct term?) in the overview; I'll make it myself, if possible, some time after may 19 (date for BA project hand in) -- unless someone beats me to it (naturally). Mind you I have no experience with any of the interfaces involved at all. Documents: ===================================================================== I'm missing a Document tab too. Should contain files grouped by type (may want to make a tab per document type) found in either $HOME or a set of designated document directories (text, audio, video, source, whatever). Tags: ===================================================================== Tags for documents to allow grouping in the Documents tabs. When I'm reading roleplaying books, I would be likely to also want to read other roleplaying books -- usually from the same set of books -- and wouldn't care much about x86 processor manuals. Hiding/minimizing windows: ===================================================================== I'm not sure about this, but maybe a hiden window should appear as a tab in the overview (either individual tabs for each window or one huge one for all hidden windows). Theme support: ===================================================================== I don't really consider this to be an issue. I do miss being able to pick fonts though. Program menus: ===================================================================== I am badly missing the set of menu entries which are not in Programmes. I usually get around it though, but some times I really need the menus and don't remember the name of the binary, meaning I can't even launch it from a terminal before desperately searching the web and where ever I think it might be. This quickly gets very frustrating. Locations: ===================================================================== I miss a way to launch locations, especially for external media and servers (sshfs and ftp for instance) in the overview. Programmes remembering their desktop: ===================================================================== Always remember which desktop a app was on when it was closed (this really means remembering which apps where shared the same desktop) -- should be possible to disable (and maybe it should be disabled by default and/or be possible to toggle per app). May want to allow launching a desktop group (starting all apps which shared a particular desktop) I hope this is helpful. Frederik Herzum -- Date stamps are your friends _______________________________________________ gnome-shell-list mailing list gnome-shell-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-shell-list