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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    multiple wallpapers by default
From:       "Sean O'Dubhghaill" <sean () doyle55 ! freeserve ! co ! uk>
Date:       2004-05-21 16:28:17
Message-ID: 200405211728.18721.sean () doyle55 ! freeserve ! co ! uk
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After some discussion on kde-usability and being prodded by Henrique Pinto I'm 
posting this here.

Peter Postmus offered the best explanation on why this is a plus for usability 
which i will quote here:

>Suppose a newbie is used to Windows and doesn't 
>know the first thing about virtual desktops. I think one of two things can 
>happen:
>
>- The user starts exploring the desktop, clicks on every thing that isn't 
>familiar. So he'll also click on the pager. KDE switches to another desktop, 
>but the only feedback he gets is the changed color in the pager.
>
>- The user wants to be productive right away and doesn't want to explore the 
>possibilities of KDE (yet). However, because the environment is new to him, 
>he clicks on the pager by accident. Again, the only feedback he gets is the 
>change of color in the pager.

>The color change in the pager is, to newbies, not a very clear indication of 
>what has happened. So in both cases, the user is likely to be confused (he 
>might have open windows in the first desktop, which suddenly seemed to have 
>disappeared). In the latter case, he might even be irritated. If, on the 
>other hand, the wallpaper is different, he'll immediately know something has 
>changed. In other words, the system gives more feedback to the user. He is 
>more likely to associate the changed wallpaper with the action he has just 
>performed, so he's more likely to recall the action try to undo it. As a 
>bonus, he has discovered a great "new" feature ;) (and maybe he'll make use 
>of it right away; everyone uses their computer differently).

The general conclusion on kde-usability was that a selection of wallpapers 
from: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=10365 would be the 
best to use. Such as bc_blue.jpg, bc_gray.jpg, bc_green.jpg and bc_fire.jpg.

You can check out the usability thread here: 
http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-usability&m=108410867708086&w=2

The main drawback that was rasied was about performance, I'm running a 800mhz 
G3 ibook here any there is a slight delay between changing desktops and the 
wallpaper changing which increases if the wallpaper is scaled instead of just 
centered. Can anyone with a slower machine report on what it feels like? 
Maybe this could be turned off on slower machines using the desktop settings 
wizard eyecandy-o-meter (which i think turns desktop wallpapers of anyway on 
slow machines).

Does anyone here any objections or thoughts.

thanks,
Sean

PS please CC me as i'm not on this list, thank you
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