unity-design team mailing list archive

[Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 08/07/10 00:10, Sam Spilsbury wrote:
> Why exactly do we want the WM to be handling tabs here? Trying to do
> tabbed applications within the window manager for the sake of having
> tabs is a huge waste of memory, especially when the application itself
> can already do tabs.

... the result is a whole bunch of major inconsistencies in the user
experience of tabs. Where is the close button? What are the key bindings
to move between tabs, and to move tabs around? How does one move a tab
between two windows of the same app?

The typical path for something like tabs is that they are invested
somewhere, then implemented individually in a bunch of apps, then become
part of the system. We need to make that last step happen.

> It also does not make sense from a design perspective. the whole point
> of tabbed windows (as it is implemented in both Compiz and KWin) is to
> allow multiple /applications/ to be shoved into one window,
> applications which the user delegates themselves as related. Confusing
> documents and windows here doesn't help at all.
>   

You're right at the start: tabs are "multiple applications in one
window". They are whole things that you want to navigate between with
keystrokes, see previews of, etc. They are systemic objects, and they
deserve to be treated as such.

Mark

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