Re: Re: A task panel

[Tim Ryan <tryan linux com>]

I work with a group of IT folks and most of us are using Gnome on
Ubuntu as out main desktop. None of the others have been following
gnome-shell development or this list. I did a bit a research among our
small group, only seven people, to see how IT people use their
desktop, and gnome in particular. I mainly asked them about the window
switcher on the panel, and asked how they were using it.

I personally don't like the current version of gnome-shell, since it
takes away too much functionality, and I don't see any way to use the
window switcher the way most of us use it. The window switcher applet
does not only provide a way of switching between running applications,
it also give you a instant view of the status of all the running
applications. You don't have to stop what you are doing, they are all
there at a quick glance, all the time. I constantly have multiple
windows up, and a quick glance at the panel lets me know what I need.
Are there unread emails? Has compilation finished? video finally
loaded? To find this out with the shell, I need to stop what I'm doing
and go to the overlay, a definite distraction.

I thought maybe I was unusual for using it this way, but three out of
the seven use it this way. I know this isn't much of a sample, but if
my little group wants this functionality I'm sure there are many more
out there that feel the same.



Tim Ryan
Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html



On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 10:53 AM, Milan Bouchet-Valat <nalimilan club fr> wrote:
> Le jeudi 20 mai 2010 à 14:33 +0000, kaddy080 gmail com a écrit :
>> I am very glad that you are satisfied with the current "non finished"
>> version of gnomeshell and how it handles window management..
>> unfortunately there are alot of other people out here who find the
>> current handling of windows bothersome, and not straightforward....
>> its a hell of alot easier and
>> quicker to click a minimised application to bring it back up rather
>> than zooming out and zooming in on the app, or alt tabbing... while
>> this may satisfy YOU.... it doesn't satisfy
>> alot of other users.... hence an additional modification to
>> gnome-shell to make life easier for the "others" such as a panel dock,
>> or the ability to click on the minimised app in the panel can only
>> be a good thing.... therefore people who are happy to alt tab/zoom
>> in/out are satisfied.... and those that want a quicker solution such
>> as clicking on a dock/minimised app in the panel are also
>> satisfied..... otherwise there is going to be people on one side or
>> another who are not going to be happy..... I have proposed the Panel
>> dock recently.... I don't see why it shouldn't be taken seriously....
>> look at the forums, especially ubuntu forums with threads about
>> gnome-shell.... most people do not like the way gnome-shell handles
>> windows.... I for one will move to another D.E if gnome-shell gnome 3
>> is half baked and featureless... but I am putting my faith in the devs
>> that they will implement a way to use gnome-shell easy and quickly
>> with minimal fuss... The future will be interesting to see what
>> happens...........
> Please, rewrite this e-mail using correct punctuation, full sentences
> starting with a capital and ending with one dot, not hundreds. I don't
> even have the courage to read your message as-is. Thanks.
>
> Only actual user testing will be able to decide whether people usually
> feel good with the overview to switch apps, or whether they adapt
> reasonably well after some time, being as happy as before.
> See http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/UsabilityTesting/PhaseI
>
> That said, I'm concerned that we, advanced users, make a intensive use
> of Alt+Tab currently, effectively often avoiding the overview. People
> that don't use the keyboard by lack of knowledge of shortcuts might
> encounter difficulties we don't have. If we feel Alt+Tab is needed, then
> accessing it's features with the mouse might be required too.
>
> Instead of complaining, I'd like somebody who really feels the need for
> a dock-like feature to actually step in and provide an extension for it.
> The Shell is written in Java Script, you could add a way to activate
> Alt+Tab with the mouse in a few lines.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
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