Re: [Ayatana] Idea for improving visibility of running applications

[Ed Lin <edlin280@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 3:43 AM, Evan Huus <eapache@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> This debate is getting rather heated, and I'm getting quoted and
> rephrased a fair bit. Let me take this opportunity to clarify both
> what I actually think:
>
> Unity is supposed to be considered 'application-centric'.
...
> This model isn't for everyone.

Thanks for chiming in. I've extensively written about this in another
mail (and got no replies)
This is a good topic to further look into but it's not the central
issue of this current discussion.

> Niklas's current mockup is a good step in that direction (albeit with
> some problems) and I would be very interested in trying a working
> version of it. It is one potential way towards a window-centric Unity.

I disagree. It solves nothing in terms of window-level switching.
There are a few ideas floating around for improving that. The only
thing this mockup changes is the visibility of running or not running
*applications*. This isn't enough and so far nothing could convince me
the change is worth the tradeoffs.

As a former windows user who switched to Mac and then back and then
Linux and then (oh it's complicated, I now use all 3...) just one
thing I want to share (repeat?) on that: I didn't like mixing
launching and switching at all so I got completely rid of all
application icons in the Dock. On Windows 7 too I didn't put launcher
icons into the taskbar (I also switched back to the classic taskbar
mode).
This is possible in Unity too. It's a "power user" case and for those
keyboard shortcuts for launching applications or tools like GNOME-Do
are available as alternative app launchers.

> In the end, I think we'll end up with a single option for this whole
> mess: App or Window model. App model by default, which is Unity
> more-or-less as it currently stands. Window model can be selected by
> anyone who actually wants/needs it. It still needs to go through a
> proper design process but again, Niklas's idea is a big step in the
> right direction.

I hope and I believe that it's not necessary to decide app OR
window-centric. A good interface could combine both and gradually
exposes additional features depending on the skills and expectations
of its user. But really that's for another thread.

> 1) We need an interface for those who fall into one of the
> window-centric use cases. Unity as it stands is not that interface,
> leaving a lot of users out in the cold.

You can still use a taskbar if you want to, keyboard shortcuts and
compiz scale are available. The running app indicator doesn't have
much impact on that.

I've made a mockup of my own. The goal was to improve the difference
between running and not running applications without introducing other
changes or preventing the implementation of a hidden application
indicator.
before|after with two different designs (FF/Thunderbird and banshee at
the bottom):
http://i.imgur.com/4DcaO.png