Re: [Usability]sft+ctl+w v. ctl+q

[Ernst De Ridder <hnridder informatik uni-rostock de>]

On Wed, Feb 05, 2003 at 01:49:15PM +0000, Breda McColgan wrote:

> I have to disagree with you about finding an empty window irritating --
> if it has taken the application some time to load, then I'd rather not
> have to go through that pain again just because I have temporarily
> closed all windows (I'm thinking of your Acrobat Reader example here).

I see your point. A good example that turned up in this thread was the GIMP,
where all drawing windows can be closed, while the tool window stays open.

> Not sure what exactly you mean by "hotkey"? Is this something that must

Just some key combination that invokes some functionality. I think the
proper Gnome word is 'shortcut key'. So to rephrase:
Most window managers have a key combination that can be used to close the
active window. The HIG reserves Alt-F4 for this.  This key (or whatever key
your window manager uses) works for any program, not just the gnome ones. So
why duplicate that functionality and loose a key that an application might
want to use for something less redundant?

May I suggest:
To close a window: use the key set by the windowmanager
To quit the application: ctrl-shift-Q (to easy to hit ctrl-Q by accident)
To close all windows: ctrl-shift-W

Disadvantage: No clear connection between Close window and Close all
windows.
OTOH: Is closing all windows such a frequent operation that we need a
shortcut for it? 

Ernst

-- 
Ernst de Ridder - hnridder informatik uni-rostock de
Universitaet Rostock - Lehrstuhl fuer Theoretische Informatik
Albert Einstein Str. 21 - D-18051 Rostock - Germany
http://wwwteo.informatik.uni-rostock.de/~hnridder