Description: First, this is just a mockup. I'd like to see this implemented in KDE3.5.7, but before posting a bug report, I'd like to collect your opinions on it. It's really just a minor thing, but in my opinion a great improvement usability wise.
Some of you probably know the option to order the windows in the taskbar in kicker by the workspace they're on. What disturbes me though is that you don't see on WHICH workspace the apps are on. Ok, you get an order, but it's not really of use if you don't know exactly what workspace they're on. The second entry could be on workspace one aswell as on nr. 2, 3, 4...
So here's my proposal: Remove the "workspace switcher" applet and merge it with the taskbar. Everytime when you have a window on a new workspace, the button for the workspace is placed in front of the taskbar entries (see my mockup, it's rather hard to explain, esp. in a foreign language ;-)). Buttons for workspaces with no windows on them just move to the extreme right (extreme left for right-to-left languages ;-)), as the buttons for workspaces 3 and 4 do in my mockup.
Yes, this consumes more space. And yes, you cannot place the workspace switcher anymore anywhere you like, as it is now all part of the taskbar. And also, the workspace buttons are larger and if you have a two or three row taskbar, they probably need to be scaled vertically (like in my mockup) unless you want to make them look weird, so you break the proportions, which again means that all these nice options like making the buttons draw window positions on them etc. don't work anymore. But I don't think anyone ever really used this feature, and with my solution, you really don't need it anymore as now, you can exactly see which windows are on which desktop - and thus much easier. Because, if there are for example two maximised windows on workspace two, in the current workspace switcher applet, only the window that is in front is drawed. Not to forget that you can always switch back to the old layout ;-).
Screenshot one shows the current state, screenshot two is my mockupLast changelog:
This might just be me, but the entire reason I put windows on different desktops is so I don't have them cluttering the taskbar. So please don't get rid of the Desktop Pager! This could be an optional feature though.
I also agree that KDE4 deserves a totally new Kicker. I personally would like to see a system that makes the System Tray and the Taskbar simply applets like everything else. People could write their own implementations, much like we have KBFX to replace the default K-menu.
For instance, I want an implementation that merges the Taskbar into the System Tray, because Taskbar entries take up so much space, and have much less functionality than System Tray icons.
but wastes horizontal space in some situations if kickers height lets you to have 2 or more app entries on top of each other.
Anyway, AFAIK kickers code is a bit of mess, and will be replaced with something new (plasma?) in KDE4, so it'll be probably hard to find someone to code it.
Good work anyway!
This would certainly not be better in my opinion. What should you do if you have 6, or even 8 desktops? This would not be a good idea. Also, I often drag windows from one desktop to another, and this would just make it more complicated.
I personnaly think that it can be an interesting idea.
I won't use it that way, as for now I don't show in the taskbar the windows that aren't in the active desktop. But I think it is possible to use this idea with my way of using the taskbar. It won't bring a big improvement, but I think it can be interesting :)
How about the taskbar resizing intelligently? I mean, the desktop you're working on is gonna take up as much space as it needs for displaying the windows, the rest of the space is then split up to the other desktops. I'll draw a mockup tomorrow maybe or in a few days. When switching the desktop, e.g. from desktop 2 to desktop 1, the button for desktop 2 will move to the right to make place for the list of the windows on desktop 1.
Maybe even in a nice animation, don't know whether it's possible with the current kicker code.
This would give you nearly the same space you now have with the option "show only windows of current desktop", plus the advantages of my approach.
Why should dragging be more complicated?
6 or 8 desktops is rather rare, mostly because then people use on desktop per app. But if you then had the dynamic approach I proposed in a reply to the first reply of your post (complicated ^^, I'll simply update the description tomorrow), you would still go fine with the space.
Ratings & Comments
6 Comments
This might just be me, but the entire reason I put windows on different desktops is so I don't have them cluttering the taskbar. So please don't get rid of the Desktop Pager! This could be an optional feature though. I also agree that KDE4 deserves a totally new Kicker. I personally would like to see a system that makes the System Tray and the Taskbar simply applets like everything else. People could write their own implementations, much like we have KBFX to replace the default K-menu. For instance, I want an implementation that merges the Taskbar into the System Tray, because Taskbar entries take up so much space, and have much less functionality than System Tray icons.
but wastes horizontal space in some situations if kickers height lets you to have 2 or more app entries on top of each other. Anyway, AFAIK kickers code is a bit of mess, and will be replaced with something new (plasma?) in KDE4, so it'll be probably hard to find someone to code it. Good work anyway!
This would certainly not be better in my opinion. What should you do if you have 6, or even 8 desktops? This would not be a good idea. Also, I often drag windows from one desktop to another, and this would just make it more complicated.
I personnaly think that it can be an interesting idea. I won't use it that way, as for now I don't show in the taskbar the windows that aren't in the active desktop. But I think it is possible to use this idea with my way of using the taskbar. It won't bring a big improvement, but I think it can be interesting :)
How about the taskbar resizing intelligently? I mean, the desktop you're working on is gonna take up as much space as it needs for displaying the windows, the rest of the space is then split up to the other desktops. I'll draw a mockup tomorrow maybe or in a few days. When switching the desktop, e.g. from desktop 2 to desktop 1, the button for desktop 2 will move to the right to make place for the list of the windows on desktop 1. Maybe even in a nice animation, don't know whether it's possible with the current kicker code. This would give you nearly the same space you now have with the option "show only windows of current desktop", plus the advantages of my approach.
Why should dragging be more complicated? 6 or 8 desktops is rather rare, mostly because then people use on desktop per app. But if you then had the dynamic approach I proposed in a reply to the first reply of your post (complicated ^^, I'll simply update the description tomorrow), you would still go fine with the space.