Re: [Usability] Behavior of Minimizing Windows Violates Mental Model

[Juan Manuel Santos <vicariousdm gmail com>]

From: "appi2012 gmail com" <appi2012 gmail com>
To: sbrady gtfservices com
Date: Tuesday 30 November 2010
> To me, the overview is great for organizing
> windows, but for simple window switching, there should be a simple way
> that isn't like Taz came through your desktop and threw your windows
> around (albeit in
>       an organized fashion ;) ).

Leaving the funny comment aside, I agree with this previous email. If taskbars 
are indeed such a devil's invention, then why is it that so many "successful" 
window managers (successful in terms of user base, user adoption and user 
satisfaction) have one, albeit in very different forms?

Do not take me wrong, I am all in favor of reinventing the UI and I stand in 
awe at the job of the Gnome-Shell devs and designers, in coming up with 
something radically different. But it begs the question, since as the previous 
email stated, it has been asked nearly once a month: is this the <b>right</b> 
way?

Let me be blunt here: vanilla, stock GNOME-2.x taskbar is not of much use. 
Yes, it provides a list of applications, but it's not much different from a 
Windows 95 taskbar (no harm intended). It doesn't have to be that way. 
Taskbars need not be such a horrible and undesirable thing. Take a look at 
Smooth-Tasks or any dock implementation of a taskbar. Heck, even E17 (a 
radical WM if there is one) doesn't have one *in a stock configuration* (you 
can install the taskbar e_module if you want to), but it does provide the iBox 
where the minimized apps go.

I haven't been following up the development of Gnome-Shell recently so I don't 
know if anything of this sort is indeed planned, but if I had to give an 
advice: don't close yourselves to this idea. Use the same radical thought you 
put into designing the shell and reinvent the taskbar too. Even if it does not 
come in a stock configuration, don't be shy of including it as an optional 
extension, with some level of support other than "you're on your own if you 
use this"

Just my two cents.

Cheers
Juan Manuel