[Usability] Re: Workspaces

[Thilo Pfennig <tp alternativ net>]

I think you are right about workspaces. But they are not evil. they do
not hurt anybody that does not use them. ZETA os is promoting that they
have up to 32 workspaces (in german:
http://yellowtab.de/support/faqs/show.php?id=81 ). So it can be viewed
as a feature. But workspaces are around for ages. I suppose they are
since the beginning of X11? I knwo them from the old fvwm2 manager that
was standard in old SuSE before KDE.

I think that there may be some more advanced concepts.

For the future of a desktop I would expect that things like

 * panel
 * gdesklets
 * menus
 * desktop background
 * icons
 * taskbar

do integrate much better. 

One main problem that I have is that I love to know where my
applications are. If I am on Workspace 2 and I start an application I'd
like to have it end starting up in the same desktop, even if I switch to
another (because I like to use the time). I therefore would like to see
applications beeing on the same workspaces. I would expect workspaces to
be organizable. I would like them to be pretty tabs - maybe in the upper
right corner. And they should have different colors and names. Every app
that is started should be on a workspace where it is useful. So you can
have a workspace where you do mail or where you browse the web. The
problem with this concept could be that some windows should be on the
same workspace. But that could also be managed somehow.

We need should look after how windows of applications are used. So maybe
one could generate something like temporary workspaces where only two
applications exist.
(BTW: this concept also would be nice for something like a GNOME kiosk
mode: only one tab with web-browser is opened)
I think what would be important is that applications do integrate into
each other nicely. I think could be GNOMEs advantage: On Windows or Mac
software that is used traditionaly is from different vendors that
compete with each other. These desktops traditionally did not give the
user much that is usable. Windows for instance did not even provide a
unzipper till Windows XP.

So what I am talking about would be the goal of more or less out of a
piece. I think the ways are going in this direction. Something like
Abiword inside Evolution (1.4?) showed this a bit.

I would like to see GNOME should behave like it actively supports the
user. i mean that I would like a real straight way from starting the
computer to read or write an email. Maybe we can extend GDM so that not
only the language and the sessions are selectable but also the
applications or workspaces. Configuring GNOME and GDM should be one
thing. If a user always starts his computer in the morning to do mail
and maybe click on some links - there could be 2 default workspaces
opened.

If I am talking about workspaces I also want to emphasize 
that his workspaces should be considered more virtual. So I think behind
all that there would be the need to manage applications differently. We
should look from the users point of view.

The user wants:

 * to view a movie
 * do mail
 * view and/or edit his photo collection.

Right now we give him applications and icons to do this. But we do not
guide him. The user should say, what he wants to do and than GNOME
changes its look to be ideal for that task. The user also should be able
to generate its own workspaces. I would expect this new GNOME to be very
productive. And i do not think we are that much away. I would liek to
see GNOME ahead with new concepts. I think what I would like to see is
possible in GNOME 4 or maybe earlier.

Thilo



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