7th February 2006, 7:10 PM
I have a huge beef with the nature of ALL GUIs currently being used in all OSs.
That is, they have a million places for icons for no decent reason. There's the task bar, quick bar, action bar, start menu, desktop, and task manager, which ALL have the exact same function. There's no legitimate reason I can see to have so many different systems for placing icons. I mean, what is the point, really?
In fact, I'm about ready to trade in the entire desktop methadology for something resembling a video game interface. Think of it this way. Ever played Chrono Trigger and used it's menu system? That might actually work great as an entire interface for shortcuts (or aliases if you prefer, both terms reveal certain aspects of what that little file actually is).
Here's my idea. Screw the desktop, replace the entire on-screen interface with a bunch of "folders" you flip between. Each folder holds a number of icons. As you flip through the folders, all the other folders are "stored" off to the side, easy to just click on to shift focus to them and open them. So, open programs, lists of files, documents, web sites, even a basic command prompt, it's all in folders. Open a file in one folder and it instantiates itself as a new folder. The start button? Gone! System wide command can be done on the system wide command folder! One could even get into specifics, reordering the open folders and resizing them in a way so that two could be open at once. There wouldn't even need to be a "desktop".
I hope I have explained this correctly. Actually, I'm thinking of a tweaked out version of that weird guide interface on the XBox 360 guide application, only with mouse and keyboard support.
One single way of handling EVERYTHING might really make things a lot simpler for users, as well as cutting down on things being too complicated.
The Chrono Trigger system, I'd call it.
When I get to a point where I think I can confidently program a Linux gui, I might actually design something to that effect.
That is, they have a million places for icons for no decent reason. There's the task bar, quick bar, action bar, start menu, desktop, and task manager, which ALL have the exact same function. There's no legitimate reason I can see to have so many different systems for placing icons. I mean, what is the point, really?
In fact, I'm about ready to trade in the entire desktop methadology for something resembling a video game interface. Think of it this way. Ever played Chrono Trigger and used it's menu system? That might actually work great as an entire interface for shortcuts (or aliases if you prefer, both terms reveal certain aspects of what that little file actually is).
Here's my idea. Screw the desktop, replace the entire on-screen interface with a bunch of "folders" you flip between. Each folder holds a number of icons. As you flip through the folders, all the other folders are "stored" off to the side, easy to just click on to shift focus to them and open them. So, open programs, lists of files, documents, web sites, even a basic command prompt, it's all in folders. Open a file in one folder and it instantiates itself as a new folder. The start button? Gone! System wide command can be done on the system wide command folder! One could even get into specifics, reordering the open folders and resizing them in a way so that two could be open at once. There wouldn't even need to be a "desktop".
I hope I have explained this correctly. Actually, I'm thinking of a tweaked out version of that weird guide interface on the XBox 360 guide application, only with mouse and keyboard support.
One single way of handling EVERYTHING might really make things a lot simpler for users, as well as cutting down on things being too complicated.
The Chrono Trigger system, I'd call it.
When I get to a point where I think I can confidently program a Linux gui, I might actually design something to that effect.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)