Re: Fullscreen mode [was Re: [Usability] Mac-style menus?]

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004, David Feldman wrote:

> Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 08:31:04 -0400
> From: David Feldman <mailing-lists interfacethis com>
> To: Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>
> Cc: Usability List <usability gnome org>
> Subject: Re: Fullscreen mode [was Re: [Usability] Mac-style menus?]
>
> > Most of these advantages can be gotten by running applications in
> > fullscreen mode (my friend likes it so much better in fullscreen he
> > runs a
> > window manager called ratpoison where everything is fullscreen, well
> > sort
> > of), although unfortunately it seems defeat has been snapped from the
> > jaws
> > of victory as in most cases the active area of the menus/buttons are
> > not
> > flush with the top edge of the screen.
>
> Also, in fullscreen mode don't you lose some of the advantages of a
> windowing system? Like windows?

Could you be more specific?

(To be clearer I think fullscreen is great and would like to see it more
widely implemented but I wouldn't go to extremes and go as far as to use a
permanently fullscren window manager like ratpoison.)

For document orientated applictions that use single window per document it
works pretty well (also known as SDI, Single Document Interface which is
most Gnome applictions use and what the HIG strongly recommends).

Clearly it doesn't work very well for (CSDI) applictions like the gimp
(which tend to have a whole host of other issues too) that use many
windows and require lots of window management (and even go so far as to
reinvent the window manager with thing like their dock system) but that is
doesn't make it any less worthwhile to have Fullscreen widely and well
implemented for all those SDI applications.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan

http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/
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