On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 2:54 PM, ello
<tenniswithshovels@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
1) Putting the launchers at the bottom/lense at the top impedes the
function of the bar (as I see it): You want the things you want close at
hand. So, if you invoke the bar by moving the mouse, you don't want to
move too much to launch the things you want. A user uses the lenses
less than the launchers IMO (the lenses are there to find programs you
don't usually use or, if you do use them often, you put them in the bar)
I'm not married to either one being at the top or the bottom.
What I am OPPOSED to, is the lenses changing location when I add or remove another launcher. That's no good. Something that serves as a natural extension to the Dash should always be located in the same place, IMO.
I don't really care where they go, as long as they're separated and the lenses are in a fixed position.
2) I agree that the Files and the Applications Lenses should be
combined.
I don't want them combined. I want the ability to remove the lens lanucher square, without having to uninstall the lens completely (like it is now).
Imagine my surprise when I uninstalled the Apps and Files lenses (to get them off my launcher), only to find I could no longer type my application name on the dash's search bar and have it do anything. :-(
3) The menu in the window title bar. While it solves the space issue
and the moving-up-to-the-top problem (the latter isn't much of a problem
for me, but then I've got a tiny 1440x900 monitor) it restricts window
size. What if the user wants a window smaller than the length of the
menu?
This problem is already solved by other programs, like OO.o and Chrome and FF and...
">>" buttons. Show what you can, expand what you cant.
Maybe I should add that to the mock-up.
What about themes where the window title is centered?
Well I guess we don't use those. We lose some form to gain some function; it is certainly better than the current trend (of sacrificing functionality to make things look nice, which happens with aggravating frequency in Unity, and unbelievable regularity in Gnome 3).
Here's an idea: a single click on the window name (or F10) opens the
global menu on the panel, with the mouse already there at the first
entry.
Since my messages haven't been getting through, you may not have seen this, but *in my opinion* (I highlight this because it is a strong opinion, but opinion nonetheless):
No.
No, no, no. Under no circumstances should UI elements as important as pull-down menus *ever* be hidden, ever. Yes, I know there's a push to clean up useless chrome, but this isn't useless (nor is it really "chrome"). It's a horrible idea now, it was a horrible idea before, it will continue to be a horrible idea in the future. It is Unity's biggest mistake, IMO, way more offensive than the global menu location fiasco.
Users, especially new ones, should never have to play hide-and-seek with something as fundamental as an application's menu system. (They shouldn't ever have to play hide-and-seek, or find-the-icon, or any other mini-game with _any_ UI element, IMO, but especially big important things like pull-down menus and the global menuing system.)
If a particular set of power users want an option that hides the menus? I'm fine with that; but OOTB, I strongly disagree with the idea of hidden anything (first thing I do is stop the launcher from auto-hiding, in fact).
--G