On Sunday, March 06, 2011 08:57:44 Matthias Johnson wrote: > Has anyone tried out this feature lack and what do people think of it?
There's a story on Slashdot about it. Seems some people love it, some people hate it. Minimizing in Gnome3 apparently now requires right-clicking on the title bar of the window and choosing "Minimize" -- so the /button/ is gone, but not the feature. I personally use the minimize/maximize buttons (as well as the "close" button), so I don't like the idea of their removal. Basically Gnome seems to be removing the buttons for code complexity reasons rather than for real usability design reasons -- and I think those are the wrong reasons to do things like this. Here's the three reasons listed as to why they want to remove the buttons (from the linked page: https://afaikblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/where-did-the-buttons-go/ ) --------------------------- 1) They don’t make sense within the current shell design. There’s nothing to minimize to, like a dock or window list, and it’s potentially confusing, since users will not know where their windows have gone. 2) Minimise buttons could be replaced with hide buttons, but that would require a new way of organising minimised windows in the overview and we’d need to establish an effective way of communicating where the hidden windows have gone. These changes would add complexity to the overall design (and subsequently to user interaction), and that would go against the aim of producing something that is simple and straightforward to use. 3) Workspaces and the activities overview can replace the need for minimisation. Want to see a particular window? Go to the overview. Want things to be neat and tidy? Organise them using workspaces. A lot of work has gone into designing and implementing both the overview and the new workspaces functionality – we want to focus on the best parts of GNOME 3 rather than carrying incomplete legacy functionality. And focusing on one set of functionality results in a more streamlined user experience. --------------------------- My personal take on the above: 1) Why are you also removing the window list and the dock? I think the intent is a space-saving measure for Netbooks -- but why make this a GLOBAL thing that's non-user-configurable -- for ALL? "Too complicated to code?" 2) "Complexity to the overall design" -- there it is again. 3) Why is Gnome telling *me* how to work? And if they've removed the dock, how do I switch workspaces? I guess this means that they're recommending I memorize special key combinations? Because /that's/ supposed to be more user friendly than having a minimize button and a task list? Here's how I expect this is going to go: people experienced with using UIs are going to be able to learn how to deal without the buttons -- I could, for instance. However for people who are not "explorers" and don't always try new things, this is going to feel like another "major" usability change that is going to confuse and upset them. For instance, if I handed a Gnome3 system to my parents, I know I'd get flack. "Where's the minimize button? What do you mean 'multiple desktops'? What do I click on to get to the next 'desktop'? Where's the taskbar?" Etc. Because these are things they really USE and any changes to them directly affect their experience. The second I'd have to explain anything about special key combinations, the idea is toast. So my main objection is the "this is how it is" edict from Gnome. -- Chris -- Chris Knadle [email protected] _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Mar 2 - MHVLUG 8th Anniversary - Show and Tell Apr 6 - Introduction to IPv6 May 4 - Inkscape
