Some of the features demonstrated in their video are already in the most recent version of OSX, fyi. Coincidentally I noticed them today and was pleasantly surprised.
Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
151–160 of 325 posts
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#152I'm presuming you've researched tiling window managers as part of your work on this?
This looks to me like an evolution of tiling windows manager with a flair of mobile/touch. Something makes me think that windows and macos are both headed in this direction in the long term.
I use sizeup (http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/) and multiple desktops on my mac so that I rarely have to touch my mouse to resize and organize windows.
I've also considered a tagging system for links - bookmarks are honestly far too much manual management - I'd like a quick hotkey and a tagging interface possibly hooked up with a calendar. I'd be even better to group context from multiple sources such as emails, calendar events, web links and chat protocols so that for my 3PM meeting it could load a screen with all the context I need, allowing me to set up tasks beforehand.
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't believe that guy, it's still impressive.
Of course design people* don't like good concept art for a tiling wm. It's not "modern", emphasizes work instead pointless high rez stock photos, and acknowledges the desktop. *not all design people, just a certain flavor
1. I'm actually a big fan of tiling WMs, I use xmonad on my personal archlinux laptop.
2. "concept art" for a tiling wm makes no sense, because as you point out, it is first and foremost something that is work focused. This is why you build functional prototypes.
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work at a company where we hire people for exactly that kind of gig, with a heavy focus on building prototypes of your designs that are actually usable because that's the only viable way to design interfaces. Here's feedback as to why I'm not sending this website to my studio lead to schedule a phone screen with the designer: 1) reused assets from other companies (big no no, even for just a mockup) that are inconsi…
You have some fair points. Personally, I would not discount the conceptual sprawl of the piece – I think it's in some ways an unavoidable part of a solo project to re-think something as broad as a general-purpose computing UI. When I was working on 10/GUI, I don't think it quite occurred to me just how disconnected the hardware / pointing part and the window management part were. At the time, they seemed largely inse…
So he can quote the creator of 10/GUI, "DesktopNeo has some more promising ideas (there's some really good thought iterating on full-height window workflows)... it's a strong showing overall."
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
>t's unfortunate that desktop UI has remained stuck for quite awhile A lot of things get "stuck" and for good reason. Steering wheel, gas, and brake. Sight, trigger, stock. Underwear, pants, socks, etc. Personally, I think the NT team really nailed the concept of the desktop back in 1993 with 3.1. The start button which hid programs and allowed access to other functions was incredibly handy, a bit like how a desk has…
"Personally, I think the NT team really nailed the concept of the desktop back in 1993 with 3.1. The start button which hid programs and allowed access to other functions was incredibly handy, a bit like how a desk has a desk drawer within reach at all times." One of us is remembering things incorrectly ... I am quite certain that the start menu interface debuted with Windows 95 and was then later adopted by Windows…
You're correct. Windows NT 3.1 was visually nearly identical to Windows 3.1. This was part of the reason for releasing a 1.0 product with a 3.1 version number.
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#156It seems like a lot of people skimmed without reading the top or bottom of this site: It's not a company. It's not a product. You're not being asked to buy it or buy into it, just to discuss the concept if you'd like. This website is a portfolio piece for a 21-year-old university student hoping to find an internship. In my opinion, it's an impressive demonstration of his design and technical skills. It certainly says…
I work at a company where we hire people for exactly that kind of gig, with a heavy focus on building prototypes of your designs that are actually usable because that's the only viable way to design interfaces. Here's feedback as to why I'm not sending this website to my studio lead to schedule a phone screen with the designer: 1) reused assets from other companies (big no no, even for just a mockup) that are inconsi…
wow, speechlessly dyslexia, as in :
you can you up, no can no BB..
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#157Guys, sometimes just enjoy the work. No need to nitpick on every detail. This is not a service and you are not a customer. It's a simple design concept.
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple's focus on minimalist aesthetics have come at the cost of discoverability. Interactions are concealed by gestural input and incomprehensible icons without text labels. This issue is getting worse rather than better, e.g. force touch on the new Macbooks. Using Apple devices requires a great deal of memorisation. For power users this is a relatively minor burden, but it is a serious issue for inexperienced users,…
Apple is just using another approach to having power users and novices using the same UI. How many people started by using a mouse for Edit (copy) before using, [Alt] [E]dit (copy), then Ctrl-C all in one step. Yes, you need to memorize Ctrl-C, but that's not a long term issue. The same is true of touch interfaces, you can use them knowing few shortcuts and slowly add more over time. People spend hours a day interact…
I think about that one constantly, in the v sense that it motivated me to ditch Office as much as possible (I mostly use LibreOffice these days)
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#159The biggest thing I find lacking in desktop UI is the ability to save and switch between states. We need the idea of project 'sessions' where I can open up the software I need to use, pull up the files I need, set my favorite folders, etc and then hit 'save' and be able to restore back to that setup at the click of a button. Right now, switching between projects means setting all that up every single time.
I agree whole-heartedly. I was excited when I heard Windows 10 was adding multiple desktops, however I find they are quite lacking in use. For example if I want to move a single window of Notepad++ to a different desktop it moves all of the Notepad++ instances.
On top of that, I really don't want all of my software always open in a separate desktop. There is no need for me to keep Photoshop open, using resources, while I have transitioned from work to play time. I'd much rather have a "working" session saved and a "gaming" session saved where-in different programs are auto opened when I start a session.
Re: Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity
#160It seems like a lot of people skimmed without reading the top or bottom of this site: It's not a company. It's not a product. You're not being asked to buy it or buy into it, just to discuss the concept if you'd like. This website is a portfolio piece for a 21-year-old university student hoping to find an internship. In my opinion, it's an impressive demonstration of his design and technical skills. It certainly says…
> It seems like a lot of people skimmed without reading the top or bottom of this site: This is the nature of Hacker News recently: people post as soon as possible to demonstrate their knowledge on a related subject. I've twice recently had articles posted on HN where a commenter loudly ranted about the article missing something that's covered explicitly in the first 3 paragraphs. dang how about adding 'RTFA' to http…
>recently
Ha.