Re: Novell Start menu [was Re: [Usability] Thoughts on GNOME and DTP]

[Rodney Dawes <dobey novell com>]

On Fri, 2006-03-24 at 02:56 +0000, Alan Horkan wrote:
> Yes and no.  I have my reservations and since I find Windows XP rather
> annoying I wouldn't choose that menu layout for myself (I use the
> "Classic" style of start menu when I use windows, I always change it back
> if at all possible).  However it will benefit some users to be able to
> configure Gnome in a way that more closely resembles what they are used
> to, it is good to give users what they want.  This menu applet is just
> another applet to choose from and is highly unlikely to become the Gnome
> default.  There is really very little to talk about on this topic, and if
> I recall correctly the topic was beaten out on the desktop-devel list when
> Novell released their work.

There was no consensus on whether to make it the default in 2.16 or
not. As the code is not yet available in GNOME CVS, reaching a consensus
is a bit difficult to do. The design is not meant to copy the XP start
menu. It is based on several iterations of usability testing on real
users in our lab. The discussion on desktop-devel-list was less about
the actual applet, and more about the fact that it was not openly
developed in GNOME cvs. I am sure a real discussion about whether to
include it in the gnome-panel package and make it the default, will
come soon enough. Until then, it is folly for someone uninvolved in the
development of the applet or the discussion for whether to include it,
to claim that it is highly unlikely to become the default.

It is actually very nice to use. You can keep the 6-8 apps that you
actually use on your system, in a single location, that is very quick
to access. You don't have to go navigate through all the menus every
time you want to start "xchat" or "gimp". And if you need to access
extra applications, they are very easily accessible through the "More
Applications..." button on the pop-up, as well.

Please don't so quickly discount the merits of design that get put into
such pieces of software. It is actually quite excellent, and I am glad
that we wrote the applet. I hope that we can include it as the default
method of access, in the future.

-- dobey