Re: [Usability]GNOME main menu and panel

[Breda McColgan <breda mccolgan sun com>]

Hello Jeroen,

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you about the ideal number of
panels! I recently upgraded to Windows XP, and find it
intensely annoying that my icons are now on the same panel 
as my window list. 

This one panel (the Windows XP Taskbar) now contains:
- Start menu button 
- Icons (application launchers) 
- Window list
- Clock

I have several icons, so only 50% of the panel is available 
for the window list. As I frequently have quite a number
of windows open, each entry in the window list is often
reduced to such a small size that it is not useful, and I 
must open several windows before finding the correct one.


I much prefer GNOME! I have customized it so that my
icons, the clock, and the workspace switcher (another huge
advantage over Windows XP) are in the top panel, leaving
the bottom panel free for the window list.

As Dave said, those who prefer to have a single panel can 
customize their desktop -- put everything (icons, window list,
and so on) on the top panel, and then delete the bottom panel. It's 
only necessary to do this once -- just save the setup when logging out.

(You might even like to create a new panel, and use that as
your basis for customization. Right-click on the panel, and select
Add to Panel -> GNOME Menu. This will give you a single menu
similar to that described in the other part of your mail.)


Of course, if it turns out that more people prefer the 
single-panel model, then two-panel fans like myself can 
add a second panel and customize :)


Just giving my tuppenceworth -- I think this is really a
personal preference, so it might be worth doing a little
survey to find out what most people would like?

Regards,
Breda.

Jeroen Verhoeckx wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
> When I show GNOME to my friends they find the two
> panels strange and not very usefull. When you have two
> panels, one at the top and one at the bottum, you use
> more space of your screen than necessary. When you
> have just one at the bottum you can place your icons
> next to the windows lis applet.
> So the second panel at the top is not necessary.
> If we want GNOME to be used by every day people than I
> think one panel at the bottum would be best.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> But still I think that it would be great if GNOME gets
> a new main menu. A clean menu with two columns. At the
> bottum, next to each other, the buttons lock screen
> and shut down. Above that two colums. At the right one
> with the categories and to the left one with shortcuts
> to important programs or maps.
> 
> <snip>
>