Consider the download-manager part of any web-browser. It would do great as a persistent notification. When the user starts to download, lets say an .iso, a notification pops up at the bottom of the screen telling the user that her download has started. If the user mouses over the notification further info about the progress is shown. If the user clicks the persistent download-manager notification icon a list of the latest downloads is displayed along with their status. This information is easily reachable at all time without having to switch context. Once the download is finished the user is notified wherever in her workflow she is and can either take action or wait, *no matter what workspace she is on now or later*.
The current situation is not as smooth. When the download is initiated, lets assume we're using Firefox, the download-manager appears on the workspace the user currently is on. The user then proceeds to write an email or browse on another topic in another workspace. If the user then wishes to check up on the status of her download, she then has to switch workspace to the one where the download manager is located assuming that she knows which one of her four Firefox instances it was started from. Once the download is finished she has to find the download manager again because clicking the notification just leads to the closest Firefox window. Using the Notification area in this way could hold data such as number of new emails/messages/tweets are waiting. How soon that file-transfer to the USB/Harddrive is done. The status of torrent/http downloads and a number of other data/minor actions that the user would appreciate to have readily available without having to lose all focus. -- www.twitter.com/Rovanion
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