Written by Corey the 28 Feb 08 at 17:35.
Category: Look and Feel.
Related project:
Nothing/Others.
Status: New
Rationale
While I don't use slab, i like the ideas behind it. Gimmie is another project that I think is headed in the right direction. Avant Window Navigator is beautiful for users with compositing desktops. We want something better than the default gnome menu. We want integrated tracker (or deskbar) search, but we don't want it to take more clicks to get to the same programs than before.
I kind of feel like this is in the same vein as the idea I just posted. I think the larger trend that I am seeing is that Ubuntu (and the other distros, for that matter) in terms of improving the infrastructure of the underlying system, but in many cases we are still slapping the same old Gnome on top of things. I liked some of the screen shots of Slab when I first saw them, and Gimmie had some interesting ideas as well. I think one of the big things I am looking for is a little more customizability so that I can tweak things to be actually more usable, not just look different. Like putting some bloodshots eyes on a panel. Because that's really useful.
100% agree. Some real innovations are possible if people think outside the box on the window manager and desktop enviroment fronts.
I would like to see the "task oriented desktop" realized. Effectively, as I work on a given project, that state should accumulate as a recognizable whole (browser history with documents I create, etc.) It should be persistent across boots unlike current Virtual Desktops.
Yeah, I just want to clarify. I'm not saying SLAB or AWN should be default. But the ammount of work going into alternate panels shows the demand users have for something different and better than the boring old default menu witch shares a lot in common with the Windows 95 Start Menu. I gotta admit that even in vista I like typing the name of the program I want and hitting enter to run it from the panel. Something new needs to be done here, and Ubuntu has the bright minds that can make it happen.