Re: [Usability] Usable workspaces for everyone (was: Desktops View in Taskbar)

["Daniel Borgmann" <daniel borgmann gmail com>]

On 9/6/06, Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie> wrote:
> Windows provided a power toy which gave basic workspace functionality and
> I don't think it is a bad thing to have as an optional extra but having
> them by default is another matter.  I can all too easily see beginners
> accidentally switching to another workspace and wondering where all their
> programs went and not realise how to get them back.

This concern hardly seems relevent anymore in times of XGL...

Virtual space is theoretically unlimited, I can't see why you don't
want "ordinary" users to benefit from this fact. Why constrain them
artificially even more than they would be in real life? The most
consequent realisation of this idea would be a zooming interface, but
as long as that is not a feasable option, we can at least give them an
effective workspace larger than the physical size of their screen,
whether it's a cube or a plane or something even more creative. We
should think for our users, not take the easy way out and take
possibilities away from them, leaving them for "advanced" users only.

Daniel