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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Allocating a virtual desktop automatically [was: thoughts on
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () kde ! org>
Date:       2004-08-31 23:51:16
Message-ID: 200408311751.16552.aseigo () kde ! org
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On Tuesday 31 August 2004 04:55, Maurizio Colucci wrote:
> However, as a last resort, we could check if the windows overlap! If they
> do, then probably they are not meant to be viewed together, so we put them
> in the taskbar. If they don't, we group them in the same taskbar button.
> Not bad.

except that overlapping doesn't mean much. small displays, complex apps, etc 
all create situations in which windows overlap. gimp is a great example of an 
app where i often get overlapping windows (e.g. the brushes and the layers 
windows) even though they belong together. so the distinction you are making 
is completely artificial and not consistent. i'm not sure how users would 
react to this in practice ....

> > the only thing i'd add here is what about the use case where you wish to
> > use the taskbar to switch to one of the non-document gimp windows? this
> > is a fairly common case because they get hidden behind other windows
> > fairly easily.
>
> No problem here. As we said, the new taskbar would only show one "gimp"
> button. But as soon as you click the button, ALL THREE gimp windows are
> brought on top. (this is automatic if kde has created a virtual desktop for
> them, otherwise we just put the necessary logic in the taskbar applet to
> bring all 3 on top).

again, this doesn't work if the windows overlap.

someone mentioned macOS X does things similar to this and i have to say that 
MacOS's handling of multiwindow apps is probably THE most annoying thing 
about MacOS. this is one reason everyone creams over expose on the mac 
platform: there simply is no other useful window selection system because 
their app-centric method no longer makes sense in 2004.

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43
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