Re: Menubar (and Empty Default Desktop) Proposals for GNOME 2.10

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Mike Hearn">

> On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 22:02:22 +0100, Reinout van Schouwen wrote:
> > My gut feeling tells me application launchers (like 'Web Browser') are
> > OK on the panel and in the menu, the desktop should be mostly reserved
> > to files and folders. But, we could have URL objects for 'Home page' or
> > 'Today's News' on the desktop instead.
> 
> Well, why is that? Do you have any evidence (anecdotal is fine ;) that
> this increases usability?
> 
> Minimalist doesn't necessarily mean easier ...

When do you see your desktop? When you're not doing any work. Applications
obscure the desktop, making the stuff on it less useful during active use.
By making this stuff available elsewhere, you can access it more easily when
you need it.

It doesn't necessarily follow that we should therefore remove everything
from the desktop, but once you put things like 'Home' and 'Trash' elsewhere,
you can reserve the desktop for things the user wishes to put there. So, if
they want application icons there, they can drag them from the panel, etc.

There *should* be no qualitative difference between having icons on the
desktop and icons on the panel *apart* from panel icons being visible all
the time. The desktop takes extra effort to expose.

- Jeff

-- 
linux.conf.au 2005: Canberra, Australia                http://linux.conf.au/
 
   "It's a pan-dimensional cake, and there are many ways to slice it." -
                                Bruce Badger