GNOME 2.0 Beta

xer.xes writes: "The first public beta release of the GNOME 2.0 Desktop is ready for your testing pleasure! It is available for immediate download here. Please read the release notes first! Due for general consumption in March, the GNOME 2.0 Desktop is a greatly improved user environment for existing GNOME applications. Enhancements include anti-aliased text and first class internationalisation support, new accessibility features for disabled users, and many improvements throughout GNOME's highly regarded user interface." LinuxToday or gnome-announce have the announcement. I don't see release notes anywhere - post a link in the comments if you find them. GNOME is having a bug day today.

Comments

Re:for existing GNOME applications?

[RollingThunder]

It (gnome 2) just hit public beta ... why would there be a lot of people using it before it even hit beta?

Re:Gnome or KDE?

[MaxVlast]

Boy that looks like Windows with different colors. Not trying to be a troll here, but what's the point of striving harder and harder to make Linux interfaces as close to Windows as possible? Sure, people say the secretary factor, but either a) the secretary will not be a linux user, or b) people underestimate the ability of others to do something new.

To me, it seems more confusing to have something that works and looks somewhat like Windows, but not quite than something that is well-designed and faithful to itself.

But, I'll probably be modded into oblivion, so what's the point?

It still looks like...

[ChaoticCoyote]

...Windows. I'm not saying that's a bad thing -- in fact, it may be a Good Thing for moving people off the MS desktop onto Linux.

I'm just wondering what's innovative about Gnome 2 -- what makes this something special or different? And why did it need to be incompatible with apps written for previous versions? I can still run old Win 95 apps on Win 2K, for the most part.

I'll appreciate polite and informative answers...

Re:can it copy and paste between apps yet?

[Alan]

The problem is that you can cut/paste fine between gnome apps. Or KDE apps. Or java apps. Or motif apps. Each with their own way of doing it, and each with a 50% chance of being able to cut/paste from one type to another, and have it work the same way.

IE: cut in gnumeric and paste into gedit. Not a big deal. But cutting text in xarchie (the original) and paste into say, gimp? I don't think so. Or maybe, but it won't be the same way as it works for other apps.

The other thing I miss is cut/paste of non-text elements. I'm not talking full OLE, but why can't I cut an image in the gimp and paste it into abiword? That's what I want from gnome :\

Re:Gnome or KDE?

[rgmoore]

Reducing the barrier to entry is a big potential advantage, and I think that you're wrong to underestimate it. Every user interface difference between what people are using now and what you want them to switch to is one possible reason for them not to switch. Integrate over every difference, and you wind up with a big barrier to changing. Of course every beneficial difference is one reason for people to make the switch, so you shouldn't be afraid of making improvements. But there are a lot of cosmetic things that probably should be kept the same just because people expect them to be that way.

The net result is that the "start button" is going to be in the lower left corner, new icons are going to be placed starting in the upper left, etc. There's no fundamental reason that those things have to be in those places, but people are used to them being there from using Windows, so they will automatically look for them there. If that makes it easier for a Windows user to switch desktops, it's more than enough justification for making that the default behavior. And yes, I do realize that the menu bar in Windows can be moved around; the fact that it's still on the bottom with the start menu at the far left on essentially every Windows desktop is simply proof of how conservative most users are.

MacOSX *is* the ultimate *nix desktop.

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad Steve Jobs is still obsessing about building the box. If he wasn't mentally ill, he'd release Mac OS for the intel platform and that would be the game. Done. El fin.

Someone tell me why they re-hired him?

I swear - if you could buy a Mac Desktop binary for your linux or BSD or Solaris unix back-end, can you imagine what the world would be like? Seriously! All the Apple Corp. experience with designing usable UI coupled with the unix industry (incl. the volunteer industry) experience with building a high-powered backend...

But the bastard wants to sell you the box, and there's apparently no one inside the company with the balls to tell him he's being an idiot.

Re:Gnome or KDE?

[Shelled]

What you say is true, but emulating Windows is also a trap. It's hard to argue that the Windows model is an ideal way of managing the desktop, no matter what MS research on Windows users says. (Have they ever tested the Win desktop on Mac users?). A good example is the one you mentioned, forcing the wrist to the lower left of the screen every time a user wants to start an app. Where's the logic in that? Or in the adherence to a single desktop? These are configurations MS is forced to maintain because their market base became accustomed to it in '95.

It's also the reason MS can't make wholesale improvements. Their users would rebel over anything too new, no matter how much better it works. Should window managers then follow the same path, lock into a single desktop model for short term gain and foresake long term development potential. This Windowmaker/FVWM user votes no.