Resolution Independence in Gnome

[Steven Garrity <stevelist silverorange com>]

With all of the blue-sky talk about Gnome 3, whatever that may be, I've 
been wondering about resolution independence in Gnome.

What I mean when I say "resolution independence" is the ability for the 
UI to work well at extremely high resolutions. Right now, I've got a 
thinkpad with 1400x1050 pixels over 15". I know some of you have 1600 or 
1900 px over the same physical size.

At this point, the pixel density is a lot higher than an old 800x600 14" 
display, but the different is not an entire order of magnitude, as it 
will be soon enough.

It is clear that Apple and Microsoft are on their way to resolution 
independence, but neither are there yet.

I'm no expert on the topic, and I'm sure much of this has been dealt 
with already, but want to make sure when I get a 300dpi monitor in a few 
years, I don't need a magnifying glass (real or virtual) to see the 
toolbar icons :-)

Is this important to anyone else? Are we already on our way? Do I have 
any idea what I'm talking about?

A few resources:

Apple has a developer document on resolution independence: 
http://developer.apple.com/releasenotes/GraphicsImaging/ResolutionIndependentUI.html

Safari/Webkit developer, Dave Hyatt, has a three-part write-up on his 
weblog about resolution independence on the web: 
http://webkit.opendarwin.org/blog/?p=55

Good article by John Siracusa at Ars Technica about resolution 
independence: http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars/2006/4/23/3720

Cheers,
Steven Garrity