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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: OS X style dock
From:       Gustavo Sverzut Barbieri <gustavo () gsbarbieri ! sytes ! net>
Date:       2004-05-05 5:49:32
Message-ID: 200405050249.32639.gustavo () gsbarbieri ! sytes ! net
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I like the OS-X idea, i mean the idea, not the OS-X implementation.

That idea is present on NextStep and WindowMaker have something similar. I was 
a WM user before changing to KDE and miss some things from it. Namely:

- Possibility to add a running program to dock. This could easily exist in 
KDE, you could drag a taskbar element to de kpanel and an icon should be 
added there to launch that command.

- Drag & Drop everywhere. Right now you can't remove icons from kpanel/kmenu 
droping them on the trash can.

- Possibility to hide an app inside its icon in kpanel.

This last one may be what you guys were talking. I know it's problematic to 
change that in KDE, it will need a lot of changes to the UI and the way users 
use their computer.

If you consider the WM approach, merging KDE and Dock behaviour is not that 
problematic, you just have to (as someone already said) have another applet 
to replace taskbar. Imagine this new applet handles everything as icons. When 
you start an app it show an icon, if you *minimize* the app, it behaves like 
Mac dock, it's hidden under the icon. You can drag & drop the icon to the 
"static" area, so when the app is closed it can be started (like kpanel does 
now).  You shouldn't mess with systray... Mac have something similar (show 
volume, battery, ...), but due it's dock func, it's not over used.
	Maybe some changes to have Close and Quit act different is cool, but this 
requires more resources to implement.

Just one comment more: people said about the notion of you close the app and 
it free the resources. Come on, it's a MS-Windows behaviour. And having that 
much things in the systray undermine that understanding. As I said, I'm not 
against system tray, but using that to play cds, korganizer, kopete and 
amarok is too much. If something like the dock exists and it works, people 
will get used to the idea of closing windows != quiting the program and will 
start to use the menu to do so. If one doesn't use the menu, there's still 
the shortcuts. Maybe we can put another possible (non used by default) window 
button or just a modifier key to quit the app instead of closing it.
	As a side effect, you also vanish with those stupid popups about closing the 
window will not quit the app (amarok, juk, kopete, ...)

-- 
Gustavo Sverzut Barbieri
---------------------------------------
Engenharia de Computacao 2001 - UNICAMP
GPSL - Grupo Pro Software Livre
Cell..: +55 (19) 9165 8010
Jabber: gsbarbieri@jabber.org
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