Re: [Usability] Reasoning behind default panel setup?

[brian muhumuza <brian muhumuza gmail com>]

There are two arguments I can resonate with: That icons look better
with 32px (I actually use two panels with a height of 32px, on
1280x1024) and that the default panel layout might take too much space
on small screen devices (especially notebooks). But those issues aside
I find the dual panel setup vastly superior, so I would much rather
see discussion about creative solutions to those problems (doing the
same as Windows 95 hardly qualifies as creative). Maybe there could be
an alternative panel setup for notebooks and low resolutions, maybe
even a vertical panel or an autohide panel.

I'm also curious how Apple gets away with their menu and dock layout,
considering that it takes up even more space. Apple notebooks are all
the rage after all, aren't they?

- Daniel
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To what I believe, panels have to change to make better use of desktop space and/or themselves.

We
need new solutions to these problems, rotating stuff up and down may
not help much. I made a mockup some months ago on thoughts of a future
gnome. It includes a desktop with a two panel setup with one panel (at
the bottom but movable/auto hidden) combining the functionality of
launchers,  window list  (task bar) and notification area.
The other panel (at the top but also movable/auto hidden) has a panel
menu and other panel applets. The mockup is at:

http://netobjective.openswarm.com/

We have gotten lost in the Win95 task bar style, but i believe it uses up too much space for its own good.
It starts to get confusing when you have more than 8 open windows. This
is even worse with GNOME when the tasks begin changing positions (or
even dissapearing into a menu) on the task bar after you close or open
a new window (i'm not sure if this has been solved). It is the very
reason many applications use tabs now.
The panel implementation i present in the mockup for one, ensures that
application windows will always be found where they minimise to.
For applications with no permanent icon on the panel, it's icon appears
for the time the application (application's) are open after which it
dissapears.

I think it is probably the best time to comeup with better ideas since project TOPAZ is starting to heat.

Brian.