keep it simple, please?

[Pasi Pärnänen <pasi parnanen net>]

Hello. 


What i want from a computer desktop is simplicity and speed. 

I think there's a definitive risk that we are heading in the microsoft direction with gnome. There has been so many threads about "helping the user", but i'm not sure that more features actually help. The newbie is confronted with a system that overwhelms him/her, instead of a helping hand. 


One such feature is boldface in menus.

Only some of the items will be bold, but when i have finally learnt to find them fast, then the "helpful" system changes it back to normal because i've been using that more often... Or that same "helpful" system changes the neighbour item to bold so i click on that in my urges to be effective. Don't get me wrong, i would like the possibility to use bolds, but why do we have to come up with a system that tries to change it the way it thinks i want it to be? What's the point? Why not let the user decide what is to be bold? 


One is how gnome uses keyboards and mice. 

It's so easy to press the wrong button nowadays, especially if you're a newbie at gnome-ing. "Why do i press the right button in that menu but not in that one?" What am i supposed to answer to that? Some kind of simple standard configuration of the mouse would be great. [Select][Pan][Menu] or something and then implementing that in more places? I would like to have some kind of panning in the file selector... Galeon is another place i would like to pan around. Galeon already has the right button menu on the back icon as an example. Menu items shouldn't be right-clicked, IMHO. More working "grips" or keyboard macros that worked properly would be nice to have in gnome too. 


And one is the graphical design of some of the applets. 

I'll give you an example: Modem lights. It could be done with a single, changing icon instead of multiple flashing "LEDs".  

When the user is offline the icon is a wire-frame globe. He/she then presses it to activate the normal internet dial-up connection and the icon changes to show what is going on meanwhile the handshaking is being done.  When the user is logged on the icon changes to a globe, unless there is traffic. Downloading would be a downwards-pointing arrow and uploading packages would have an upward arrow (or whatever). Errors could light the globe fully red.  To end the session the user would just push the globe. All other features would be in the right-click menu. 

This way of doing the interface could be used in cd-players (there's one called notifyCD for windows) mp3-players, etc... gnomeICU does that already to some extent. 

i would also like to suggest a "starting queue" for programs that are starting. It could be integrated with the tasklist applet or stand-alone. The idea would be to have an icon show up in there while the program is starting (just the icon) and then have it expand into the name (and icon) of the task list once the main window shows up. 

That same type of applet could be used for GTM to show that files were in a queue, and for chat-client transfers, etc...



-- inPasible. 
-- "Shit, i'm being obnoxious again. :( I'm stopping now.  Sorry. "