Realizing I keep babbling about this idea, I pulled open Inkscape and made a mockup! So, here is a slightly different approach to window management. <http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/DesignerPlayground/WindowTrays> (Although you'll have to imagine the mystical "transitions" I speak of). What I did was consider what we gain with the window list right now, then I tried to imagine that functionality in an environment without one. As well as making things easier to maintain, this would be of enormous benefit to the end user by keeping everything in one easy to follow place instead of bouncing users between an index and a physical workspace. Window trays would be a replacement to the "title bar" metaphor. Where this idea differs is that window trays are DETACHED from their client area, so they can sort of float around in a way that makes sense. For example, if the client area is stuck through the top of the screen, the window tray will appear below it. If the client area is hidden beneath another window, the window tray will find a way to remain visible. If the client area is in another workspace and wants attention, the window tray makes a brief trip to the workspace that the user is viewing. When a window tray is dragged, it takes the client area with it. For example, in my mockup there is a window tray from another workspace... if you were to drag it, it should pull the window client area into the current workspace. In a slightly related idea, an added goody would be if the window trays were extensible in a desktop-wide way (think panel applets). For example, an extension could add a button like a Force Quit button; or a behaviour like smoke to indicate parent process's CPU consumption. I'll try to implement this when I have more time, but that could take a while to happen. Thanks for looking :) Bye, Dylan McCall
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