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Contributor Dazed_75 on Gnome

Titlebar and menubar are wasting too much vertical space.  
Written by sicofante the 8 Mar 10 at 07:05. Implemented
The newer themes for Lucid make no colour distinction between the menubar and the titlebar. Check any picture of a window with the new themes for Lucid and you'll see the amazing waste of vertical space.

Also new in these themes is the feature that a window can be dragged by both its titlebar and its menubar. Makes sense, since it's a big fat single colour area.

Widescreens are more and more 16:9, which makes them vertically shorter. Vertical space is becoming more and more precious.

Isn't it time to merge both the titlebar and the menubar?
446
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#1): Merge titlebar and menubar in a single bar
Written by sicofante the 8 Mar 10 at 07:05.
Merging both bars in one will save vertical screen space and won't affect the way we use the windows now.

There's actually no need for more than the three buttons (minimize, maximize, close) since the window menu can be accessed by right clicking on the window's title or no-menu area.

When the window is too narrow for displaying the full title, we can provide a tooltip showing it in full. Also, developers would be careful by choosing what to display as a window title. Name of the application is usually unnecessary (we know what the application is, we launched it...) and usually only the document name is important.

How to technically doing it is out of the scope of this idea (I'm not a developer). Maybe it's just about removing the titlebar altogether (or reducing it to 0 pixels) and add the title and control buttons to the menubar.
-75
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#2): Merge title and menu bar + remove status bar too
Written by Klau3 the 10 Mar 10 at 23:25.


Merge title and menu bar like on the screenshot . To see the menu again the user has to click on the “Menu/Options” button in the left corner. Also remove the status bar and replace it by a mouseover information that will appear after a half second – like it is in Lucid right now for the Places menu.
-55
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#3): A keyboard shortcut to show/hide the menu bar
Written by daas88 the 11 Mar 10 at 00:45.
It would be nice if for example the menu bar showed when I press Alt, Alt+M or one of the Fx keys. And there should be a small button in the title bar doing the same thing as the keyboard shortcut.
148
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#4): Decrease the height of the title bar, ala Google Chrome
Written by Mirek2 the 14 Mar 10 at 14:47.
As someone who has tried a prototype of this, let me tell you that with small windows, small screens, or large menus, it's a nightmare trying to move windows around, if possible at all.
I think Chrome has a good compromise: remove the text from the title bar and make it a lot thinner, but still keep the height big enough so that one can easily move and resize windows without accidentally opening up menus instead.
With maximized windows, the title bar should merge with the menu bar completely, as one can't move a window in maximized state and as it suits the Fitts law nicely (that is, if you remove the top panel in Ubuntu).
-37
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#5): Move menu bar to top panel.
Written by A.I. the 14 Mar 10 at 23:00.
Install gnome2-globalmenu applet by default to move menubar to top of screen (as in Mac OS X). User can disable it.
57
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#6): Be more original, and re-work the paradigm
Written by isantop the 16 Mar 10 at 00:22.
Think something similar to UNR. Remove the title from the active window, and display it in the top panel instead, which has wasted space on most systems by default. Long titles can be truncated like in the task list.

Make the titlebar thicker, and put the menubar in it, leaving space to grab and drag, like solution 4. If a windows is narrow, truncate the menu and place a "More..." button, similar to solution #1
-24
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#7): GnomeShell? and maybe overlapping?
Written by LukeM33P the 25 Mar 10 at 01:30.
There are a few points I'd like to make:

Most widescreens are 18.5 inches or greater. Many are also high-resolution. Lower-resolution screens are often 4:3, where this is not a problem and the resolution is the problem.

For the few places where the scenario at top makes sense (auto-detection on install would be nice for this), button sizes should be reduced, text should be reduced, and the bottom panel shrunk in height.

Next in line, we realize the top panel is mostly indicators which theoretically have popups which will appear over the windows. The links on the upper toolbar are quick-launch-like, and the drop down menus are mostly unnecessary when applications that are screen-filling are necessary. So, the top menubar is always behind any windows in a full-screen mode, but retains its solid shape for smaller windows. To avert frustrations when trying to use the full screen with multiple applications, lock points on the screen (user customizable) should allow an undefined number of applications to lock to a full screen view (taking up the full screen as a group, moving as a normal window would, or locking AeroSnap-esque, based on preference or per-window setting). Other non-full-screen applications, of course, would still be visible.

Possible solution.

Edit: Forgot to mention GnomeShell. GnomeShell will make the top bar superfluous. Look up GnomeShell if you want more details.
12
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#8): Add "Hide menubar until I press Alt" option to Window manager
Written by annex666 the 26 Mar 10 at 12:31.
I.e. implement the exact same functionality as that in the Hide Menubar plug-in for Firefox - the menubar is hidden until the user presses the Alt key; it is then rehidden when the user presses Alt again.
-4
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#9): Create an applet to optionally show title bars in a panel
Written by Liso22 the 27 Mar 10 at 18:37.
I've been dealing with the same problem for some time, and mostly considering I use awn that takes more or less thrice the space of a regular panel and that I have a laptop screen. I think the solution should be to add an optional applet which will normally show the regular Ubuntu menu bar and when an application is running it will switch to show the Ubuntu quick menu icon and the application title bar, this will be totally optional so it can hurt nobody and will benefit both the users who prefer a windows like behavior than those who prefer a mac interface. This is the mockup of how it should look when an application is running and the space that will be saved.

[url=http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/134b0462fd.png[/img][/url]">http:/ /www.freeimagehosting.net/][img]http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/134b0462 fd.png[/img][/url]
4
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#10): Create an applet to optionally show title bars in a panel
Written by Liso22 the 27 Mar 10 at 18:49.
I've been dealing with the same problem for some time, and mostly considering I use awn that takes more or less thrice the space of a regular panel and that I have a laptop screen. I think the solution should be to add an optional applet which will normally show the regular Ubuntu menu bar and when an application is running it will switch to show the Ubuntu quick menu icon and the application title bar, this will be totally optional so it can hurt nobody and will benefit both the users who prefer a windows like behavior than those who prefer a mac interface. This is the mockup of how it should look when an application is running and the space that will be saved. (I don't know how to make the image show I'll just paste a couple of links click any)

http://i40.tinypic.com/2eeh7v7.jpg

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?134b0462fd.png

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?134b0462fd.png>http://www.freeima gehosting.net/uploads/th.134b0462fd.png alt="Free Image Hosting by FreeImageHosting.net">
3
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#11): use horizontal space
Written by ave2 the 29 Mar 10 at 11:31.
start looking at ways to use the horizontal space for menus- look at blender 2.5 as a good example of this...
-13
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#12): Docky
Written by Pfanne the 31 Mar 10 at 00:49.
Just use Docky as the lower panel.
Yeah i know Ubuntu will look alot like Mac OS, but who cares?
Apple did some good design choices with their desktop. Why shouldnt we copy them?
-10
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#13): Menubar hides behind titlebar & shows on mouse hover, and toolbars dock under
Written by geoff.m the 31 Mar 10 at 01:40.

1. The titlebar and menubar are merged. we need to see always the window titles in order to see quickly what they are at all times, but not the menus. menus appear over windowtitle when mouse hovers around it.

2. The toolbars also need to be accessed often, but they have little need to be seen all the time. therefore they could just dock under the titlemenubar.

2.a. in the case of browsers, the url could appear next to the window title

Then we would have 1 bars instead of 3, saving about 80 pixels in height that can be now used for actuel software and content space.
-11
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#14): Take a clue from The Amiga: Right click and hold activates menu
Written by Duncan J Murray the 1 Apr 10 at 20:11.
Anyone who has used Workbench would remember the right-click and hold would bring up the menu over the title bar.

To implement this into Ubuntu I would suggest that the menu bar is removed, but would appear, temporarily replacing the title bar when the right mouse button is clicked and held (with the selection being made on the release of the right mouse button).

An alternative would be that a single right click would transform the title bar into the menu, and then you can navigate the menu as you normally would, left clicking to select.

This method does not add any extra key presses or mouse clicks in accessing the menu, which I think is crucial, but will save one horizontal bar of vertical space.
63
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#15): Adobe Creative Suite Style
Written by DadsAndGrads the 3 Apr 10 at 21:39.


In the new OS X clone style:



This configuration keeps all the current information. If a window is made too small then first the title could be truncated then the menus if need be.
-5
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#16): Move the top panel to the left side of the screen
Written by jerome.bouat the 4 Apr 10 at 14:08.
What about putting the current top panel on the left on the desktop ?

The "Applications", "Shortcuts" and "System" menu could be replaced by icons.

The vertical position of panel at the left can lead to less area consumption than the top position of the same panel.

Currently, a 16/10 form ratio screen makes 17/10 form ratio of the maximized windows.

Therefore the panel at the left would make the maximized windows form ratio like ~16/10 instead of 17/10 currently. The horizontal form ratio is mostly used for watching movies in fullscreen. Thus the ~16/10 ratio of the maximized windows would make the use of the firefox and
openoffice easier but not impact the other applications.
1
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#17): Remove the menu bar in Nautilus entirely and add proper buttons instead
Written by la_serpe the 7 Apr 10 at 22:51.
Think about it for a moment. How often do you use Help and About menu for instance? What about the Tabs menu? Isnt it easier to use mouse? Bookmarks and Go have basically the same function. Instead of File you can simply right click on the blank surface. This redundancy isn't only annoying, but it's also confusing. It has been inherited from Windows 3.1 I guess. Let's abandon it finally!
0
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#18): A "View"-Menu-Button
Written by wenex the 9 Jun 10 at 12:04.
For the application you can normaly show or hide statusbar etc.

You should be abele to have there:

show/hide menubar or menu-button or menu-buttons (=for each entry a button; file, edit, view...)
use/not use global menu bar in the panel
merge/unmerge statusbar, titlebar
etc.
preferences for each programm
0
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#19): a compiz effekt to roll in, roll out titlebar plus merge menu- and titlebar
Written by wenex the 7 Jul 10 at 19:47.


a compiz effect that "hide" titlebar, so it looks like the other boarders. When the mousepointer is over the top window boarder, it expands to the titlebar.

give some options to choose hide and unhide delay and how it scales, if its a maximized window ...

merge titlebar and menubar into a single bar with the option to have a menu button in the titlebar.
0
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#20): Hide/Unhide title bar automatically.
Written by Lachu the 19 Dec 10 at 10:13.
Titlebars should been hidden, when mouse cursor are above of active/foreground window(having keyboard focus). It should appear again, when some button(like alt) pressed or mouse cursor are outside foreground window. Titlebar isn't part of active window(let's say).
Also titlebar of active window would appear when mouse react on top-corner of window.

In most times we don't need a titlebar at all. We've used it only to move window around or changing active window.
Dialog(like progress dialogs) contains a lot of useful information about which progress it observe... Conclusion is: we need a titlebar only to change active window and drag window around.

When window is maximized we should have top corner displayed, but it will be very small. When window is maximized there's way to display titlebar. On window is foreground we only move cursor at top of it or outside and we can drag it. When mouse is placed outside foreground window, we can also see titlebar of other window.
1
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#21): Allow the Titlebar to be used as a Menubar (customizable)
Written by ester4 the 31 Dec 10 at 17:07.
Similar idea to this brainstorm: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/26826/

Allow users to customize the Titlebar by adding icons and menus to the Titlebar to decrease the need for toolbars below the Titlebar.
1
votes
implemented
Selected solution (#22): Developing Globalmenu
Written by doyousina the 10 Jan 11 at 21:01.
There's already one project in google code which provides a Mac-like menubar: http://code.google.com/p/gnome2-globalmenu/
Although it doesn't works on firefox and openoffice (applications i use on a daily basis).

See the 39 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 8 Sep 12 at 07:42) >>

Automatically switch user to another workspace  
Written by aruseni the 14 Nov 10 at 04:22. New
Imagine a user who has a few workspaces.

On workspace #1 he or she has a running Jabber client with a chat window. Now, he or she goes to worspace #3 to make some work and suddenly he or she sees that a Jabber message is received, the Jabber icon in the system tray started to blink. He or she clicks the icon, and the Jabber chat window disappears from workspace #1 and appears on the workspace the user is currently on — workspace #3.
29
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Automatically switch user to another workspace
Written by aruseni the 14 Nov 10 at 04:22.
The idea is to, instead of bringing the Jabber window (and other windows in such situations) to the current workspace, simply switch user to the workspace where the window is.
-9
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Chat window visible on all workspaces by default
Written by Oxwivi the 16 Nov 10 at 18:02.
Chat windows should be set to be visible in all workspaces by default, so there'd be no need to switch workspaces to reply.
-8
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Chat window visible on current workspace when updated
Written by Oxwivi the 17 Nov 10 at 16:05.
Let the chat window appear in any workspace only when there is something new. On responding to the notification, the chat window will appear.

See the 4 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 7 Sep 11 at 15:16) >>

Create more desktop background options.  
Written by Cityscape the 16 Jul 10 at 17:24. New
I think we could add a few really nice things to the default Ubuntu desktop. A couple extra options for desktop background could give Ubuntu some extra cool features.
230
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Add a desktop wallpaper rotation feature.
Written by Cityscape the 16 Jul 10 at 17:24.
If you've tried Windows 7 you'd be familiar that is a really cool desktop wallpaper rotation feature. Now I don't really like Windows 7 but this feature is very nice. I think we should add a feature like this to Ubuntu. It would (just like Win7) provide a user with the option to choose the amount of seconds and choose which wallpapers to rotate. This would be really nice to add to a future release of Ubuntu.
-39
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Add *gif desktop wallpaper support
Written by johndoe32102002 the 16 Jul 10 at 17:58.
Add the ability to take *.gif images locally or remotely and use them as desktop wallpaper. This would allow things such as a realtime looping weather radar as the background image.
310
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Allow each workspace to use a different background
Written by Cityscape the 16 Jul 10 at 20:59.
I would be so cool if each workspace could have a desktop wallpaper. I know other Linux users who have been wanting their distros to do this for quite some time. And I think Ubuntu should implement it. It would just require an option to be present in the Appearance Preferences for setting this up.
12
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: own photo gallery
Written by 19feet the 6 Aug 10 at 17:50.
show own photo gallery; change it every day; inclusive an option wether I like the picture as a background or not
25
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: Provide integrated and animated desktop support
Written by nandan the 10 Aug 10 at 16:38.
This goes beyond animation alone; we can have wallpapers (or themes) with specific combinations of 'apps' embedded. So, if I choose, say 'google' wallpaper, the customizable desktop can allow me to choose google trends, gmail notifications and google maps as a package.
33
votes
up equal down
Solution #6: #3 plus GNOME Already has a Desktop Slideshow - Make it accessible from UI
Written by icyitscold the 10 Aug 10 at 22:48.
One of the default desktop backgrounds in the Appearance Preferences IS a slideshow and the desktop rotation works. However, there is no settings for it to change the timing interval, for example. There is also no easy way to add a different slideshow of your own.

The whole desktop background tab of the Appearance Preferences application needs to be redesigned with options to create background slideshow, appropriate settings and options to have differing desktop backgrounds between workspaces.
10
votes
up equal down
Solution #7: Use a Webpage as a Background
Written by ki4jgt the 12 Aug 10 at 00:22.
Before I went down the Linux rabbit hole, Windows allowed you to be able to use a webpage as your background. or even create a collage of webpages as your background. I think Ubuntu should do this.

See the 22 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 8 Aug 10 at 03:09) >>

Web Open Font Format  
Written by Eldmannen the 24 Jun 10 at 14:41. New
We should have applications that have support for the WOFF open standard file format.
278
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: GNOME Font Viewer
Written by Eldmannen the 24 Jun 10 at 14:41.
Add support for WOFF to the GNOME Font Viewer.
31
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: KHTML
Written by Eldmannen the 28 Jun 10 at 21:19.
Add support for WOFF to the KHTML layout engine.
It would result in WOFF support in Konqueror.

See the 2 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 6 Jul 10 at 14:47) >>

Improve Mahjong  
Written by folksilva the 8 Jun 10 at 23:18. New
To add more options to mahjong of gnome, as time has limited, different and more difficult punctuation, phases. E also a game option as the KShisen of the KDE.
15
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Improve Mahjong
Written by folksilva the 8 Jun 10 at 23:18.
Add more options to mahjong of gnome, as time has limited, different and more difficult punctuation, phases. E also a game option as the KShisen of the KDE.

See the 1 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 9 Jun 10 at 19:03) >>

Simplify workspace settings for applications  
Written by antaveiv the 7 Jan 10 at 09:07. New
Having multiple workspaces is great, but its usability could be improved.
107
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Window context menu is too complicated
Written by antaveiv the 7 Jan 10 at 09:07.
Too many menu items are shown, see proposed mockup:


22
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Make #1 default
Written by pererik87 the 9 Jan 10 at 17:40.
Make #1 default settings in compiz but but make it possible to customise this menu in ccsm.
19
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: program to auto open on selected work space
Written by tommynz1975 the 21 Jan 10 at 01:40.
this would seem to be the place to chime in. If the option has not all ready been setup.

under "workspace" menu shown in solution #1 be able to increase/decrease workspace, yes I know under gnome I can right click and go through preferences.

be able to right click on said application and set it to always open in said workspace.

See the 2 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 10 Jan 10 at 11:17) >>

Limited monitoring functionality of Gnome System Monitor  
Written by quirks the 13 Jul 09 at 10:50. New
The current version of Gnome System Monitor shows basic information about your system, such as running processes, open files, cpu usage, memory usage and swap usage. While this is sufficient for most use cases, there are situations where people want to monitor other (vital) components of the computer, such as disk throughput, temperatures of system components, voltages, ...

For this reason, more sensors should be added to Gnome System Monitor. The following are some suggestions, which I find useful. Feel free to add your own ideas!
244
votes
up equal down
Solution #1: Disk throughput graph
Written by quirks the 13 Jul 09 at 10:50.
This is a sensor, which I have needed a number of times by now. I attached a blueprint showing what the "disk history" graph could look like. It is also the easiest extension that I can think of, because it is very similar to the CPU history and all the information is provided by /proc/diskstats.


61
votes
up equal down
Solution #2: Open Programs Tab
Written by isaacd the 13 Jul 09 at 19:19.
One thing I use the system monitor for is to end/kill a misbehaving program, as one might do with CRTL + ALT + DEL in windows. However, there are always many processes running in the background, and it can be hard to find the process that is the misbehaving window, instead of a process in the background. If there was a tab that excluded every process besides the ones that are an open window, this would make things much nicer in those situations.

This solution is in addition to any other solutions proposed.
80
votes
up equal down
Solution #3: Extend system status information
Written by quirks the 31 Jul 09 at 19:37.
Also, I would add the system uptime and the number of currently logged-in users to the system status, as shown here:


153
votes
up equal down
Solution #4: Temperatures, voltages and fan speeds (optionally with color coding)
Written by quirks the 31 Jul 09 at 19:45.
I would find sensors for temperatures, voltages and fan speeds pretty useful, too. People should know, when their hardware is about to go up in flames. Here is what it could look like:



Probably, this could be done with the help of lm-sensors.
64
votes
up equal down
Solution #5: Logged-in users tab with option to terminate sessions
Written by quirks the 31 Jul 09 at 19:57.
Sometimes I need to terminate other users' sessions. But at the moment, there is no GUI to do this (AFAIK).
It would be sufficient to have a graphical version of the command-line utility "who". Of course, users could only terminate other users' sessions, if they were administrators and only after authentication (by pressing the Unlock button).


5
votes
up equal down
Solution #6: Process table should be more optional
Written by Lachu the 7 Aug 09 at 06:24.
Solution #2: XKill caller in process table. Add button to hide monitor window and call XKill program. Add also button to show process of selecting window in process table(select it). It would work like XKill button, but only highlight process instead kill it.

See the 6 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 31 Jul 09 at 20:47) >>