[Ayatana] The Unity launcher and minimized windows
Hi, Currently the Unity launcher in Natty does not offer any way to restore minimized windows if another window from the same application is opened (the scale plugin is invoked instead, considering only non-minimized windows). I suppose this is because it's just an alpha, but what is the intended behavior in the final version? Making the scale plugin include minimized windows the same way it includes non-minimized windows, I think it's a bad idea. Minimized windows are in a different state and that should be visually shown. I'm attaching an ugly, made-in-five-seconds mockup with a suggestion: when an icon is clicked in the launcher and some windows of the app are minimized and some are not, the launcher shows the minimized ones as icons below. That way the user knows which windows will be restored and which ones will be just focused when selected. It also gives less trouble to compiz by not asking it to generate previews for minimized windows. ___ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
Re: [Ayatana] The Unity launcher and minimized windows
On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 12:19 AM, Conscious User wrote: > Hi, > > Currently the Unity launcher in Natty does not offer any way > to restore minimized windows if another window from the same > application is opened (the scale plugin is invoked instead, > considering only non-minimized windows). > I believe the intended behavior for now is to do what was happening last version and to show minimized windows on the spread initiate. The reason why this is taking so long is because I have long held a policy of *not* supporting this behavior since it is full of hacks and breaks many applications which are stupid about the way that they treat minimization. It's in 0.9.2 as a "workaround" because that's the way it should be IMO. > I suppose this is because it's just an alpha, but what is > the intended behavior in the final version? > > Making the scale plugin include minimized windows the same > way it includes non-minimized windows, I think it's a bad > idea. Minimized windows are in a different state and that > should be visually shown. > > I'm attaching an ugly, made-in-five-seconds mockup with a > suggestion: when an icon is clicked in the launcher and some > windows of the app are minimized and some are not, the > launcher shows the minimized ones as icons below. > > That way the user knows which windows will be restored and > which ones will be just focused when selected. > Sounds cool. Unfortunately you didn't attach anything :) > It also gives less trouble to compiz by not asking it to > generate previews for minimized windows. Too late ;-) > > > > ___ > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana > Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > -- Sam Spilsbury ___ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
Re: [Ayatana] The Unity launcher and minimized windows
On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 17:41, Conscious User wrote: > > > Sounds cool. Unfortunately you didn't attach anything :) > the classic! liking the mockup! it shows that one can do a lot with the exposé view.. there was also talk about adding a visible "close" button, when "scale addons" are enabled, so that one could actually discover that feature better. a lot can be done to make the scale plugin in compiz really bring a new quality of experience to the desktop. now what about minimizing windows? i remember windows for workgroups, there was nothing like a window list, minimizing was synonymous to "iconifying" an application. somehow, people were also not so stuck with the "window" metaphor, we thought in "programs". so you could open a program, aka "run" it, then you could minimize aka iconify it back into its icon within the "program manger" or onto the desktop. pretty simple, isn't it? now, with the window list (instead of program list, which would make more sense imo), we minimize to window list or to notification area, but why? most of the times i minimized a program, i was secretly hoping for it to just disappear and hand all the display space and window list space back to me, so that i could just make it reappear magically when i needed it again, much later. It's a remember and forget type of thing: some applications should be there so you can use them here and now, others should continue running in the background. what i would have wished for back then is the behaviour that rhythmbox, banshee, empathy and iirc transmission exert nowadays: close window = hide window. Minimize should be deprecated, because it was a workaround for "hide" window", which would have been a non-reversible gesture without tools like docky or the unity launcher now, or the window list back then. Minimize is a synonym for "iconify", now list to me the situations in which you want a program main window to be iconified onto a certain part of the screen?! ___ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
Re: [Ayatana] The Unity launcher and minimized windows
> Minimize should be deprecated, because it was a workaround for "hide" > window", which would have been a non-reversible gesture without tools > like docky or the unity launcher now, or the window list back then. > Minimize is a synonym for "iconify", now list to me the situations in > which you want a program main window to be iconified onto a certain > part of the screen?! Actually, I've been a supporter of killing minimization for years. My suggestions in this thread are more for legacy purposes, as I don't see the removal of such a taken-for-granted feature being seriously adopted any time soon. ___ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
Re: [Ayatana] The Unity launcher and minimized windows
Hi Conscious, On Thu, Dec 30, 2010 at 18:39, Conscious User wrote: > > > Minimize should be deprecated, because it was a workaround for "hide" > > window", which would have been a non-reversible gesture without tools > > like docky or the unity launcher now, or the window list back then. > > Minimize is a synonym for "iconify", now list to me the situations in > > which you want a program main window to be iconified onto a certain > > part of the screen?! > > > Actually, I've been a supporter of killing minimization for years. My > suggestions in this thread are more for legacy purposes, as I don't > see the removal of such a taken-for-granted feature being seriously > adopted any time soon. yop, there's a point in offering a transitional solution. OTOH Unity is so completely different from the classic GNOME Desktop, it wouldn't make much sense imo to transport such concepts for the sake of preserving their legacy, if we can avoid to. Especially the Compiz Scale feature is revolutionary, in that it stands totally against what iconification does: it scales content proportionally, while minimize abstracts the entire application into a single symbol. This is definitely not the place to reintroduce what we gracefully managed to leave behind, as far as my opinion counts in any way.. ___ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
Re: [Ayatana] The Unity launcher and minimized windows
"Minimize" is really "hide". It means "keep this window alive, but get it out of my desktop view". The window is still in every sense part of the working set of windows, so it should show up in glorious technicolour during things like spread and alt-tab. Sam, would you make it so? It sounds like you're already on track ;-) Mark signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature ___ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
