Re: Thoughts on window sizing - now tiling

[Ross Smith <myxiplx googlemail com>]

Hi guys,

I've been thinking some more on this over the last few days, after
reading the existing suggestions for window tiling:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3349/3442783741_75c5f67d0d_o.png

I'm now thinking that with a good tiling interface, there's no need
for any of this window sizing cleverness.  I'm writing this up now,
but could I ask for your thoughts on this:

Have a dedicated 'tilling' mode:
- Activated per workspace in the overlay
- And potentially activated by a command, hot corner, or keypress
while on the main workspace.

It starts by fitting all windows to fit on screen, like Compiz Scale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLVAqQHsu6U

You're then free to drag any window around to stitch them together as
shown in that picture above.  The window you are dragging moves freely
around the screen at all times (no snapping), but the part overlaying
a window goes semi-transparent, and the edge to join is clearly
highlighted.

One example not shown in those pictures is dragging a window onto two
already joined windows, which I think is also possible:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/IGgJ7MzqVuwemE7s5JAfRg?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDK77aPmuTOpwE&feat=directlink

Once windows are linked in this way, they act as a coherent group:

- The group is moved and sized as a whole

- A coloured border around the group may help here, llike the compiz
group background glow effect:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sULZKK7u3So)

- Joins between windows are flexible - you can still resize any
window, but the others stay stuck to it:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/BGPmqvlCl6A9SYa3KjfmVw?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDK77aPmuTOpwE&feat=directlink

- Minimize & Maximise buttons are removed for all windows apart from
the top right one, and now maximise or minimize the group as a whole
(changing the button colours to match the coloured border may be a
useful visual aid here).

I would suggest that with this behaviour, and the existing
'stickiness' of application and screen edges, there is no need to do
anything more with window sizing.  You can even group a bunch of
windows and tile them like this, and still have the other windows on
that workspace free floating.

What do you think?

Ross



On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 3:09 PM, Mike Bursell <mike hingston demon co uk> wrote:
> On Tue, 2009-05-12 at 07:59 +0100, Ross Smith wrote:
>> On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 11:01 PM, Greg K Nicholson <greg gkn me uk> wrote:
>> > On the subject of resizing: what is the use-case for it?—why do we
>> > need to be able to resize windows to arbitrary sizes?
>>
>> I would say that there are quite a few reasons to keep it around:
>>
>> 1. Familiarity - everybody is used to this, anything else would feel alien.
>>
>> 2. Freedom - My personal feeling is that enforced sizing would feel
>> restrictive.  People like to feel that they are in control.  Yes, the
>> UI could do with helping them tile windows more easily, but I think
>> this needs to be in a relatively subtle way.
>>
>> 3. Unknown reasons - There may be a myriad of other reasons why
>> somebody wants a window 'just so'.  Flexibility for the user to do
>> what they want is important.
>
> The very idea of not being able to resize windows fills me with dread.
> Here are some reasons:
>
> 1. sizing of documents: some I need to read at particular sizes, and I
> need to be able to resize the window they're in, and not scroll around
> all the time
> 2. sometimes I'm referring to one window, and doing things in another:
> I'll make the first one the right size so that I can read what's going
> on, and but have my main focus as the (big) window.
> 3. video formats: need I say more?
> 4. looking at images of varying sizes
> 5. different sized screens, with different resolutions, require
> different sized windows (and I'll drag them across desktops and then
> resize as I wish
> 6. need I go on...?
>
> -Mike.
>
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