[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Alternative to traditional (virtual) desktop: The Strip
From:       Pavel Troller <patrol () sinus ! cz>
Date:       2005-12-08 10:18:02
Message-ID: 20051208101802.GA4906 () tangens ! sinus ! cz
[Download RAW message or body]

> 
> I haven't used FVWM, but I did run in to virtual desktops that switch when the 
> user moves the cursor to the edge of the screen. Needless to say, I hated 
> that feature, and this feature would not be like that. In essence, user could 
> expand his workspace with quick flick of a wrist.
>  
Hi!
  I think that this idea has to be "merged" with more mechanisms.
  I also hated the feature of automatic switching of desktops by moving the
cursor to the edge of the screen, even if there was a "resistance" preventing
to switch by unwantedly touching the edge.
  My idea is to have this Strip, as proposed in the original idea, but with the
following "extensions":
  1) Configurable "Parking brake": When a user is satisfied with a view (user's
position within the Strip), he can easily fix this position against all the
following unwanted changes until he decides to change it again, for example by
means of some key combination.
  2) View snapshots: Every view should be registrable to the "snapshot memory"
including all the details about window ordering and exact position in the
Strip. Users then can easily switch these views by a key combo. I feel this as
an extension to classic virtual desktops, where instead of a desktop a user is
changing his position in the Strip. 
  I can imagine the following usage pattern:
  - User starts to occupy the Strip from left to right by windows and other
elements.
  - In the "unlocked mode", he moves around the Strip, utilizing all the nifty
graphical effects described in the original idea.
  - Once he is satisfied with a particular view, he takes a snapshot of it and
assigns it to a key (like Ctrl-F<n> for classic desktop switcher).
  - As the new apps open their windows, more snapshots are taken, which may be
(and will be) particularly overlapping (the main difference from classic
desktops).
  - As the workspace more less stabilizes, the user locks the Strip using the
"Parking brake" and all the moving from now on can be made only by selecting
formerly created snapshots (until the brake is released). After the release,
new snapshots can be taken or the old ones modified in the "free mode".
  - Snapshot switching should be configurable either as quick as possible, or
with utilizing the "moving" effect around the Strip similar (or identical) to
manual movement by the mouse, with possible acceleration/deceleration effects
and even nifty sound :-).
  I think I would like to have such a Strip instead of classic desktops :-).
                With regards, Pavel Troller
 
>> Visit http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel#unsub to unsubscribe <<
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]