Single click selection with checkboxes, revisited

["Kristoffer Lundén" <kristoffer lunden gmail com>]

Hello!

A bit over 2 years ago, I started a discussion on this list about a
way to make life better for those of us who use single clicks rather
than double. In my personal opinion (a matter of taste), everything is
easier and better using single clicks, except selections, which either
needs rubberbanding or using extra keys (CTRL/SHIFT), making it
somewhat awkward.

My suggestion then was to provide checkboxes, and I gave some
mockups[1][2]. Some discussion ensued, some didn't see the need, and
other rightly pointed out that it'd be ugly and cluttered. Someone
pointed out that something like that was coming in Vista, but it
wasn't out then, and all we found was some screenshot, not really
saying all that much about how it would work. I don't really remember
if there actually was any decisions or if the discussion just died
out. =)

Anyhow, I've now had the "opportunity" to try out Vista for a couple
of weeks. It's every bit as horrible as the rumors say, and worse,
except for the new Explorer. It's actually really good in many ways,
the navigation bar is really nice. But most importantly, they have
implemented the checkboxes interface in a way that is both intiutive,
good looking and IMO not one bit cluttered. Single click on Vista is
real good, and everything is really easy to do now.

In Vista, it works like this: the checkboxes are hidden until the
mouse pointer is moved over the icon. It then gets a highlight, and
the checkbox appears. If marking the checkbox, selecting the file, it
stays visible. See [3] and [4] for examples on unselected, hovering
and selected files in icon and list view.

I wish to raise the discussion once again if this would be a good idea
for Nautilus. For me, personally, I think this is the bee's knees in
every way, making file management a true breeze. =) It also enhances
double click mode a lot when selecting multiple files, so it's not
just for single clickers. But I'm taking it here first for discussion,
before submitting a feature request.

-- Stoffe


1. http://student.gamemaker.nu/~krilun030/images/nautilus/icon-mode.jpg
2. http://student.gamemaker.nu/~krilun030/images/nautilus/list-mode.jpg
3. http://student.gamemaker.nu/~krilun030/images/nautilus/vista_selection_desktop.png
4. http://student.gamemaker.nu/~krilun030/images/nautilus/vista_selection_listview.png

-- 
Kristoffer Lundén
✉ kristoffer lunden gmail com
✉ stoffe playdo com
http://www.playdo.com
☎ 0704 48 98 77