I have no problem with the way windows work in Gnome right now. Using the window switcher is really convenient. The only things I would like to be better are 1) It's too hard to find my way back to the right window in a window group, for example if I have 4 IntelliJ-windows active and want a specific one, takes too much time to find it and they also look alike. Perhaps naming them and using some ex command (dmenu-ish) thing? 2) The window switcher is only shown on the main display. I know the Gnome devs are quite fixed in their opinions about this, but imho it would be better to show it on the active display, which I would define as where the pointer is or where I interacted last. Solve these two things and I see no need for either mosaic or tiling.
Rethinking Window Management
241–250 of 272 posts
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#242Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://dwm.suckless.org/
dwm is great. I took it and ripped all the tiling manager code out of it and turned it into a generic window manager. What has kept me using it all these years is the "window move" and "window resize" system that fell out of this change. Hold down ALT and CLICK1 on a window, _anywhere_ on that window, and you go into "window move" mode. No need to seek out the "titlebar", just click and move. Hold down ALT and CLICK3…
For any Mac or Windows users reading this, these features are also available on those OS’s.
https://superuser.com/questions/53051/altclick-drag-window-r...
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#243People generally have pretty good spatial sensibilities, and I feel like modern OS designers seem to forget this. You feel this especially on iPadOS. Physically arranging windows allows for a much more solid multi-tasking experience, and encouraged direct manipulation of content e.g. drag and drop. Transient "palette" or "panel" windows allow for a short term buffer (think a find/replace panel). To me, this is what m…
> I'm grumpy about the recent trend towards apps living in one monolithic window
Me too. It's a terrible paradigm that I'd thought we'd left behind a long time ago. But I guess everything comes around again.
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#244People generally have pretty good spatial sensibilities, and I feel like modern OS designers seem to forget this. You feel this especially on iPadOS. Physically arranging windows allows for a much more solid multi-tasking experience, and encouraged direct manipulation of content e.g. drag and drop. Transient "palette" or "panel" windows allow for a short term buffer (think a find/replace panel). To me, this is what m…
I really appreciate apps that open new windows where it makes sense, but I'm pretty sure the reason it died out is because people started using too many windows for conventional floating window managers to handle. I'm not sure if many people really felt the burden it would have caused, because the growth in number of windows arguably began with having many webpages open at once, and firefox, and then later internet e…
> But if I had to have a floating window for every webpage I have open, I'd never find anything!
That's how I do it (and prefer it!)
I am very allergic to tiling windows and somewhat allergic to tabs. I want everything to be a free-floating window so I can organize things as I wish.
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#245I'd love to chat with the gnome guys. They miss so much and I'm not sure why. 1) The WM must remember where my windows were and put them back when reopened. Never mind how X apps took on this responsibility, under Wayland the app should not know its context. It's also not right to put the burden on every app when it could be in the WM to provide consistency and unburden all the other devs. 2) I use a 55" screen where…
> I'd love to chat with the gnome guys. They miss so much and I'm not sure why.
Feel free to join https://matrix.to/#/#design:gnome.org
Tobias will be happy to discuss with you (and everybody else who has constructive insights)
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#246> Overlapping windows can get messy quickly Yeah dude... that's one reason why the Minimize button exists on Windows, MacOS and KDE etc for so long. When you see some feature exists for this long on this many good desktop environments, you know it's too important to...say...been removed (from default setting)? Also on the same note, Taskbar (or Dock on MacOS) is also important... It's so important that on SOME deskto…
> Taskbar (or Dock on MacOS) is also important Yet many people set it to autohide. At that point the difference between pressing super, a hot corner or autohide is quite minor. > one reason why the Minimize button One feature I like in gnome is the title bar clicks. Double-click or middle-click anywhere on the title bar feels much nicer than hitting the specific tiny maximize/minimize buttons. Unfortunately, as far a…
Well, I set my Dash To Dock to autohide only when a window maybe overlapping with the dock. As soon I move the window away, the dock pops back up. Which is the best of both worlds setting IMO.
There are great benefits of having an (almost) always-visible taskbar, one is that it allows you to plan your actions before you move and click, and it also enables more efficient actions when you want to bring up/down more than just one window (simply due to the shorter distance the cursor/hand/finger has to move between).
Also, I'm not really talking about maximizing windows, that problem has already been solved IMO. But as far as I know, by default, there is no similar-acting alternative for minimizing window besides Super+H hotkey which for me is a bit awkward to press, plus I don't really have big hands :( also, I rest my left pinky on the left side of left Control, move it to Super sounded like a lot of effort (and then I've to also locate H???, you know what? I'll survive a few unminimized windows :)).
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
Starting with something as basic as bringing back the path input textbox in file dialogs. I mean... it's a file dialog! What else but inputting file _paths_ is it good for?
I recently got a macbook pro m2 in order to do local ML dev, and Finder has got to be one of the worst, most user-hostile programs I've ever used. It's not a good look when fucking windows explorer offers a better user experience.
In case you weren’t aware, though macOS’s Finder doesn’t show an editable file path control in each window like Windows Explorer does, Finder does support these path-related features:
• View > Show Path Bar (⌥⌘P) toggles visibility of a bar at the bottom of the window that shows the path to the currently open folder or currently selected file. The path is displayed as a series of folders, including their icons. You can hover over each these folders to see their full names, drag files into them, or drag them into other windows.
• Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) pops up a text field where you can type the path of a folder or file to navigate to. The text field has tab completion. This shortcut works in any file dialog, not just the Finder.
• Edit > Copy “…” as Pathname (⌥⌘C) copies the absolute path to the currently open folder or currently selected file.
Another tip: in any file dialog, to navigate to the same folder as an open Finder window, start dragging the folder by pressing and holding on the proxy icon of the window (it’s in the title bar, left of the title), then drop the folder onto the dialog.
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
I must say when you said your screen was 4.5' wide I had a negative reaction. How could someone use that much real estate? Wouldn't your neck hurt from the looking around? However, after seeing your screen capture I have to say that I'm pretty impressed and kind of want a super wide screen for myself now. Main content in the center with no overlapping windows means that everything is within eyeshot without having to…
Some tips - I use the Samsung Odyssey G9[1]. It's curved. The curve helps with having to use your neck as it wraps around your periphery. I think in ultrawide setups a curve is a must if you're sitting close to the desk. Here's what it looks like from sitting POV[2] I use an Ergotron HX[3] mount for my desk to keep its very large feet off of it and maximize real estate. 1: https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitor…
Why have you got your monitor so far down? Do you sit super reclined or something? Cause if you sit upright, aint no way that is good for you.[0]
0: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in...
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some tips - I use the Samsung Odyssey G9[1]. It's curved. The curve helps with having to use your neck as it wraps around your periphery. I think in ultrawide setups a curve is a must if you're sitting close to the desk. Here's what it looks like from sitting POV[2] I use an Ergotron HX[3] mount for my desk to keep its very large feet off of it and maximize real estate. 1: https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitor…
Why have you got your monitor so far down? Do you sit super reclined or something? Cause if you sit upright, aint no way that is good for you.[0] 0: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in...
I'm short.
Re: Rethinking Window Management
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would take issue with your first claim. People, in general, have very mixed spatial sensibilities. Is why it takes herculean efforts to keep dishes organized in a family. Some people have organizations they want. Some have different and incompatible organizations they want. Some people just don't care. Seriously, look at the insane amount of effort that a grocery store has to go through to keep things organized. Ke…
I wouldn't cite grocery stores as a model for "organization" given that their "information architecture" of where things are in relation to another is driven by dark design patterns like "put the most often sought after items at the BACK of the store (like milk / eggs) so people have to walk through and see all the other products". There's nothing "organized" about this insofar as being an optimal organization for an…
> There's nothing "organized" about this
Ohhhh no. It's organized all right, very much so... just not for the customers' benefit.
No no, it's organized for the shops' benefit.
Some hlalmarks:
* Perishables around the edges for quick stocking and restocking. Non-perishables around the middle where they don't need to be changed so much.
* Areas that need environmental controls are grouped: so...
- bakery products in one area, lighting is yellow-gold, air fresheners emitting maltol, etc.
- chilled goods in another area, with a lower ambient lighting level and a different colour palette;
- fresh fruit & veg in another area, lit with greenish light, air fresheners emitting something piney or something herbal-smelling;
And so on.
On the shelves, typical eye-levels and eye-lines measured, premium products put at eye level, budget ones down where they are less visible so fewer shoppers will find them, meaning more stuff with higher profit margins sells;
Tempting fresh stuff is encountered first, in case the customer is hungry, to tempt them.
Boring slow-moving stuff, frozen goods, imperishables, toilet paper etc., right at the end.
It's highly organized but not _for_ you; no, it's organized to exploit you.