[Usability] The Window List Applet

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

A moment ago, I had an idea for the window list applet that I've not seen
presented anywhere. Before I mention it, I'd like to address two things.

1) Grouping
   I'll let Alan Cooper speak here:

     Unfortunately, in Windows XP, Microsoft has done something which
     disrupts this quite workable ToolTip scheme: As space gets limited,
     rather than squeezing all the buttons, the Taskbar starts grouping
     them by application into single buttons. The ToolTip only shows the
     name of the application (and the fact that there is more than one
     window represented, which the button itself shows as well). To get
     to a particular document from one of these group buttons, users are
     forced to make a menu selection after clicking on the button. This
     new scheme has two serious problems. First, it is now impossible to
     tell, in some circumstances, which documents are open without
     clicking on a window button. Second, the mapping between the active
     window button and the active window has been thrown out of kilter
     by the many-to-one mapping of the grouped window buttons. Thank
     goodness this pathological behaviour can be turned off in the Taskbar
     properties!
                                                   Alan Cooper
                                                   About Face 2.0
                                                   pp. 390-1

2) Ordering
   I usually have a pretty good idea of what I've been doing, but I can't
   tell by what the window buttons are sorted. I thought it was window
   class, but, at least in version 2.2.2.2, it's not.
   Because I have a good idea of what I've been doing, and because it
   keeps the buttons from shifting a lot, the best order for me would
   be creation order. It's also an order familiar to users of Windows98.


My idea for the window list is very simple: hide the names of minimized
windows leaving just their icons showing in smaller buttons. Full names
remain available in the tooltips, as they are now.  Because many apps are
run maximized and obscure all other windows, minimizing rarely reduces
clutter at all. Shrinking the buttons leaves space available for the buttons
of the windows the user is more likely to want at the time - those that are
not minimized. Braces around the name of a minimized window provide little
distinction from non-minimized windows, and the icon opacity change isn't
particularly apparent either. It might even be a good idea to omit the
icons from the buttons of non-minimized windows so more of their titles
can be seen.

Thoughts?
Greg