Icon prelighting signals activation affordance incorrectly

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

The prelighting or mouseover effect of icons is indicating that they are
activated with a single click. You can see that prelighting indicates
single-click action by looking at all the other places it is used: buttons,
menus, some links, scrollbars, disclosure triangle, and surely others.
For all of these, you will find that the action afforded by a single-click
is activation. Nowhere but nautilus icons in double-click mode will you
find prelighting indicates that selection is the single-click action.
Where you do find that a single-click causes selection, you do not find
prelighting. This is so even in nautilus when a folder is viewed as a list.

For consistency both across GNOME and within Nautilus, icons should not
prelight in double-click mode.

It was recently mentioned that with the removal of mouseover underlining
in single-click mode, that mode can no longer be distinguished visually
from double-click mode. Reserving prelight for single-click mode resolves
that problem.


Cheers,
Greg Merchan

P.S. - Personal Disclaimer:
  This does not mean I endorse single-click mode. I most certainly do not.
  I agree with all the reason for double-click mode stated here:
    http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2002-December/msg00015.html
  (Please do not follow this message with an argument about how many clicks
   should activate. The point of this message is that the indication is
   incorrect. This postscript is, as indicated, a personal disclaimer.)