[besson3c]

Gnome 3 isn't due out until at least Sept 2010, so much of this is subject to change, but what do you guys think of the whole Activities implementation here?

http://digitizor.com/2009/11/09/visu...n-ubuntu-9-10/


I don't know if I like it or not, but it's interesting... It seems to sort of combine the Windows Start Menu with OS X Spaces and perhaps traces of the OS X Finder. It is interesting to build an interface around virtual desktops like this. This may or may not be a little too complex for novice users to understand, but I wonder if this sort of thing would get users using and depending on virtual desktops more so than, say, the OS X which I've never really gotten used to using for some reason?

I don't like the centered clock, and I'd like to see how it competes for space usage once a few more applications are open. It's interesting that the focus is application centric rather than document centric, that is obviously Mac-like.

No point in making this a full-fledged critique of a half-baked interface and mostly proof-of-concept, but what are your thoughts on the general direction being taken here? I like these sorts of usability discussions

[besson3c]

bump

[Cold Warrior]

It looks like a big step backwards. I didn't see an easy way to launch apps via something like a menubar, taskbar, or dock, just that massive waste of space that takes up a large part of the screen (like the widgets sidebar in Vista). It appears so different from Windows and OS X that it is poised to roll back Linux usability into the 90's when it was a laughing stock.

[besson3c]

Maybe that is what that dock like sidebar is for? I agree, it's not clear how that would be done...

I think your predictions are pretty premature at this point though.

[patrix]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

It looks like a big step backwards. I didn't see an easy way to launch apps via something like a menubar, taskbar, or dock, just that massive waste of space that takes up a large part of the screen (like the widgets sidebar in Vista). It appears so different from Windows and OS X that it is poised to roll back Linux usability into the 90's when it was a laughing stock.

GNOME and KDE are lambasted for always copying Windows and/or Mac.. So when they try something new, they get ****, too.

Nice.

I like that gnome3 shell is going app-centric, I too wonder if they'll eventually move to a single menubar though it doesn't seem like it so far.

I wonder if the "Activities" thing will somehow be tied to virtual desktops. ie one desktop per activity, it's how I try to organize my workflow a lot but because the OS is either app-centric or window-centric it never quite works out..

[besson3c]

patrix: I'd like to use virtual desktops, but my problem is that I'm a multiple monitor guy. I haven't figured out how to combine the concept of multiple monitors and multiple desktops.

Any suggestions?

[besson3c]

Here's another photo slideshow of the upcoming KDE 4.4:

Sneak Peek: KDE 4.4 screenshots - Slideshow - CIO

[shifuimam]

Gnome 3 reminds me a bit of Jolicloud, which I have installed on my eee PC 701 and have grown to kind of enjoy using. That being said, Jolicloud is easy to use and easy to figure out.

I agree with CW though...it seems really overly complex and obfuscated.