Re: Two proposals for Gnome-shell

["Allan E. Registos" <allan registos smpc steniel com ph>]

On Tuesday, 08 March, 2011 08:52 AM, Allan E. Registos wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 5:05 PM, David Prieto<frandavid100 gmail com>  
> wrote:
> > >  Just for reference, I was thinking of showing the same thumbnails 
> > that now
> > >  appear when you press down during the Alt+tab switcher.
> Well, on the latest demo from gnome3.org (0.0.6), alt+tab shows large
> application icons, with small names, similar to the OSX style, and I
> quite like it that way. 
No, please no more icons when you are switching windows.

I humbly suggest that thumbnail + label is the way to go for several 
reasons.
First, aside from opening several instances like that of a terminal, the 
most effective way of distinguishing them is via small name/text/label 
rather than icons or thumbnails.
Second, icons can only be effective to distinguish *between 
applications*, but a total failure to distinguish instances of an 
application. Take note that in the context of Alt-tab, our motive is to 
switch to a window as *quick* as possible, and not to *run* an application.
Third, thumbnails are very helpful when you open several pictures in 
GIMP, drawings in Inkscape, drafts in your CAD apps and other related 
applications. Please try that.
Fourth, icons, as mentioned, are only helpful which is which when you 
want to run an application. In GNOME Shell, we want to get rid of the 
dock, yet we still love those flying icons? Please put them where they 
belong.

> The icons are much more distinctive than
> thumbnails could ever be. 
Can you please site an example for this when using Alt-tab?

If icons should be the default when using Alt-tab at GNOME Shell's 
release, then this must be a bug especially to graphic artists.
I can't imagine when still using compiz and you move your mouse to the 
hot corner, and all you see were icons of applications, instead of 
thumbnails, it must be a disaster to the user. The same to GNOME Shell.

My point: A desktop is not a smart phone, while a smart phone can be 
your desktop.

There are good things about smart phones that needs to be imitated at 
the desktop level, like Ubuntu's ayatana-scrollbar. I think this project 
is also good for GNOME Shell.

Kind regards,
Allan

--
There must be a computer language that is 100% visual, but runs at the speed of the C language.