unity-design team mailing list archive

["Mirek M." <mazelm@xxxxxxxxx>]

2010/12/5 Vishnoo <vish@xxxxxxxxxx>

> On Sat, 2010-12-04 at 20:46 +0100, Mirek M. wrote:
> > Hi everyone,
> > I've been playing with Unity for a while, and while I like some of its
> > developments, the lack of its customization really bothers me.
> > Particularly, I'd like to be able to move the launcher (+ Ubuntu
> > button) to the right.
> > Reasoning:
> > a) The Ubuntu button as well as the launcher make more sense on the
> > right, where all the other system-related buttons are. It would help
> > maintain users' focus on the current application if all the
> > file-related commands were on the left and all the system-related ones
> > on the right.
> > b) If the Ubuntu button were to be moved right, window buttons could
> > be slightly shifted to the left corner. That means that there would be
> > two very useful corners, quickly reachable by mouse (as per Fitts's
> > law) -- the left one for closing an application, the right one for all
> > the things the Ubuntu button will do.
> > c) As the Ubuntu button can act as a "hot corner", it makes sense to
> > put it on the right, away from application-related buttons. That way,
> > when you're working with an app, you won't accidentally trigger the
> > launcher.
> > d) If applications have vertical toolbars/sidebars, they're often on
> > the left (e. g. most image editing apps have "Tools" on the left, most
> > file browsers have a left sidebar, etc.), so they are, of course,
> > easier to target when there's no launcher on the left.
> >
> >
> > Would it be possible to add this option?
> >
>
> <https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/675119>
> <https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/668415>
>  ;-)
>

Thanks for pointing me to those bugs.
I understand that Canonical doesn't want the launcher to be away from the
Ubuntu button or to take up unnecessary space, so a launcher on the bottom
or on top is off the table, but I don't see what the problem with an option
to move the launcher along with the Ubuntu button to the right would be.
IMHO, it'd be a great usability improvement. As I said, if
application-centric commands are going to be on the left, it only makes
sense to put the launcher+Ubuntu button on the right, where it doesn't
interfere with the user's workflow. This change would also put the "close"
button into the left corner of the screen, where it would be easier to
target.

Is there any chance that the option to move it to the right might be
reconsidered?

>
> --
> Cheers,
> Vish
>
>