Re: alt-tab interface proposal

[Richard S <corn13read gmail com>]

I work with 70 + yr olds almost on a daily basis and I have enough 
trouble explaining alt+tab to begin with ;) I do think it would be 
pretty simple. "to see all of your applications you have open and switch
 between them press alt + tab". 

I actually think that introducing people to alt tab as it is is 
difficult. "press alt, then tab but don't let go of alt and then you can
 continue to press tab until you get to the application you would like. 
Or press alt, tab and while holding down alt  click on the application 
you want to go to" 

With my idea it is both snappy for users that are used to it and 
simple for those to figure out who are intermediate/power users. We 
could even have a little question mark at the bottom right that would 
give quick tips.

Honestly we are already doing something different with the 
parent/child elements in it and I think that my proposal is a great 
addon to the parent child alt+tab.

If we are needing to explain 
how things work for 70 year olds we should look at gnome zeitgeist 
(gnome activity journal).

On a personal note I think we should do something different and 
innovative with alt+tab.

To go along with the comment about small
 preview windows why don't we do a mouse-over/tab-over magnification 
like OSX launcher?

-Richard

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 2:43 PM, Gregory Petrosyan <gregory petrosyan gmail com> wrote:

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 11:15 PM, Richard S <corn13read gmail com> wrote:
> Personally I like the nested alt tab that gnome. I think that the interface
> should be a modal that semi-requires further input. This would allow a user
> better application navigation and management.
>
> Example of better functionality:
>
> If alt+tab press lasts less than X amount of time, switch to previous
> application.
>
> If alt+tab lasts longer than X then the menu stays up and tab key goes
> horizontally through the menu and alt key go vertically. Space or enter will
> choose current app. (arrow keys could be used as well)
>
> Mouse would still be able to navigate through the menu. Hovering over a
> parent item will show children. Hovering over child will bring a preview of
> the window to the center of the display to and make alt tab interface semi
> transparent.
>
> Right click on parent to allow for functions(open new window, close all
> windows, move to workspace X, etc)
>
> Dragging child from one divider to another would move a window to different
> virtual desktop.
>
> It quickly could be made into quite a powerful interface.
>
> I'm not the best with photoshop but I could give it a shot if people would
> like to see a mockup of this idea set.
>
> Please comment.

Can you please explain, *what exactly is wrong* with windows-style
alt-tab? Too simple? Or gnome-shell should be different just for the
sake of being different?

               Gregory