Re: Workspaces [Re: [Usability] nautilus, panel, and metacity not acting as if the desktop was a single entity]

[Eric Larson <elarson novell com>]

On Wed, 2005-07-13 at 12:07 -0700, Yang Zhao wrote:
> Granted, that is only one example, and the above mentioned "friends"
> consists almost entirely of hackers and geeks. However, it still
> contradicts the idea that workspaces is entirely of the realm of
> power-users.

I see what you are saying but I think the point is that most users would
not discover that mental model on their own, which is as good as leaving
it to power users. Traditionally users stick one mental model for
working with their computer. So for example, some people stick to using
the main menus for using an app or always clicking the toolbars for
functionality. They may never realize there is functionality in context
menus or using drag and drop. With that in mind I think it is safe to
say that a conceptual model that goes beyond one desktop is something
most users discover on their own. 

With that said, I would never suggest that workspaces be removed. But, I
do think that pushing the user to consider grouping their applications
would be a worthwhile task to gain the advantages of workspaces. In
addition I think it would be easier to make something like grouping apps
discoverable. Your example supports that making this kind feature
available to traditional users a worthwhile task, since they can use it
effectively. 

Eric