[Ayatana] Yet another mockup/list of suggestions for the Unity-interface

[Henrik Peytz <henrik.peytz@xxxxxxxxx>]

Some of these ideas have already been proposed (mainly the ordering of the dock-icons) but here goes...

Here is the mockup : http://fav.me/d3fkdc6

And here is a more fleshed out description and reasoning behind the proposed changes:

Changelist:

Dock-changes: Launchers have background-colors signifying their software-category (Online-apps, Games, Multimedia, Office/Production, etc.).Workspace-switcher launcher and mounted media-launchers are moved to the bottom of the dock. Lenses are removed. Instead, the right-click functionality of the “applications”-lens and the “Files & Folders”-lens are moved to become the right-click functionality of the Dash-button and the Home-folder launcher respectively. Because:

- It will save precious
	launcher-space in the dock. The lenses take up 2 perfectly good
	launcherspaces that could be used for other things before the amount
	of launchers make the dock “fold”.
- Coalescing the lenses into the
	already existing Dash- and homefolder-button makes sense. In a
	sense, the Dash-button is the Linux-equivalent of a “Start-button”
	in Windows, it doesn't make sense that launcher-buttons in the dock
	open up the Dash-menu, especially not when they are so far removed
	from each other and visually don't seem to be particularly
	interrelated. The home-folder launcher is also close enough to the
	corner/Dash that it warrants this kind of attention to a new user.
- Moving the Workspace-switcher to
	the bottom along with the mounted media buttons will serve to tell
	these functions from the normal application-launchers; they're
	apples and oranges which shouldn't be mixed for sake of overview.
- Giving launchers a category-based
	background color will serve as basic visual hint as to the
	functionality of the application launched. This is less important
	for experienced users, but a nice aid for new users. Also, it gives
	people one way (currently there is none) to group things in a sane
	way without making the dock look like a double-rainbow.

Dash-changes: Right-clicking Dash will give users the Application menu, currently accessed by right-clicking the “Applications”-lens. Covered above. Dash needs a major overhaul, but is not covered in this particular list of suggestions/mockup for Unity.

Global menu-changes: The Global menu
will be removed and window-menus will be restored (Classic Gnome-way
if you will), except when a window is maximized, in which case the
global menu will work as it does currently even on separate screens.
The tray-icons have their own little bar in the top-right corner,
which resizes itself depending on the amount of indicators up there,
and overlaps the Global menu if a window is maximized.. Because:
- The point of the Global menu is to
	save vertical space on the screen, but when a user need the vertical
	space, he'll naturally resize the window bigger and, if that isn't
	enough, maximize the window. Point being: the Global menu currently
	only serves a purpose when a window is maximized, so lets keep that
	and let un-maximized windows keep their menus.
- Working with multi-window
	applications like GIMP and Cinelerra (for instance) is a pain when
	every window uses the global-menu. It makes the learning curve of
	such programs steeper as the user cannot relate the menu-options of
	non-active windows to each other.
- Dual-/multi-screen setups would
	make more sense as the travel-time between menu and application
	would be reduced.
- High-res monitors currently waste
	a lot of pixels drawing nothing but a dull grey panel that is never
	used for anything, blocking the nice wallpaper underneath, and
	(ironically) is taking up vertical space.
- Basically, the Global menu is a
	good idea that serves a purpose; but it is not something that's
	supposed to be a rigid part of the desktop; it is supposed to be a
	more covert way of saving vertical space when needed. If there is
	enough space to run applications with a menu in a window, let them,
	all is well; if not, maximize them and use the Global-menu-way of
	saving vertical space. Call it “Maximode menu” instead :).