Re: Splash screens (Re: Arlo, a little QA...)

[Nicolas Mailhot <Nicolas Mailhot email enst fr>]

Le mer, 25 oct 2000 23:49:53, Mike Newman a écrit :

> I'd agree that some kind of visual reference is especially
> important
> where an application's launch time is long, or there is a
> period of
> apparant inactivity.

And when it's a rarely used app. Come on, if the app is your
mail-app of file-explorer, or anything else you launch
pretty often, you're *used* to the time-lag. You do
something else during launching time : read a web page or
whatever.

Granted, a graphical hint that it *is* launching might be
usefull. But the last thing you want is a big splash screen
to remind you that not only it's long to take off as usual,
but it won't let you do anything else meanwhile. Something
in the task list or some eye candy on the lanch icon
(animate it during launch time for example).

A splash screen is overdoing it. In fact, a splash screen is
*always* overdoing it, only when the user won't see it often
he will focus on the nice pictures and not on the
inconvenience of it all.

> If only to prevent the case of "oh,
> it did'nt work
> - I'll just click it a few more times and curse louder".

WM does it nicely. And without being an inconvenience.

If need be I will learn the launch syntax of all gnome apps
to get rid of their splash screens and/or toggle the good
option in every application preferences dialog. And rework
the default menu after each install. And be a bit madder
each time.

I won't enjoy it. And I won't be alone. And after I do all
this I still won't have any hint that an app is stuck on
launch (except I use gproc_applet 'cos it *is* screen-estate
efficient).

So is it to much to ask for a system that give launch-time
*HINTS* (and not oversized eye-candy) or barring this a
quick and centralized way to hide these horrors ?

-- 
Nicolas