A Look at the Upcoming GNOME 2.6

unmadindu writes "GNOME 2.6 is just around the corner, and I figured out that many GNOME users would like to know what's in store. So I installed GNOME 2.5 (development version for 2.6) in my box, and came up with a list of the new stuff that are coming up. (and just in case, copies of the article are also available here and here)."

Comments

Re:Performance

[Anonymous Coward]

Part of the problem is that developers, being geeks, tend to have all the latest kit. So the GNOME hackers working on their 512M / 1G 3 GHz box won't be concerned about performance, but the millions of desktop users running lower-spec machines will.

Let's be clear about this: the vast, VAST majority of machines on the planet, in homes and in businesses, have 32M, 64M (and occasionally 128M) RAM. That's nowhere enough to run GNOME/KDE, OpenOffice.org and Mozill at a realistic and usable speed. When did we become just as bloated as Microsoft?

If the GNME developers don't step back, look at the problem and concentrate on efficiency and clean design (rather than flashy features and bloat), it'll lead to long term damage for Linux on the desktop. They're doing a great job bringing Linux to the masses, but the masses are going to be less enthusiastic about Linux when it keeps requiring hardware upgrades...

Re:Performance

[Malc]

According to Google's Zeitgeist", Windows XP represesnts 45% of the market out there (well, of their customers/users). Windows 2000 represents 18%, and although it will run in 64MB, I don't view anything less than 128MB realistic. Therefore, I would guess that the majority of people are already using machines with 128MB or more.

Re:New File Selector - WOO HOO

[ultranova]

Since there is already a file browser such as Evolution

Isn't Evolution a mail reader and not a file browser ? Or did you mean Nautilus ?

To open a file, just view its directory and click on it; the application loads automatically and there is no real need for the two-step 'load application then use the Open menu', which dates from a time when computers didn't have a single GUI and there was no means to just open a file directly.

Or you could leave both options open and let people use whichever they want. Like it's done now.

Besides, if I have both mplayer and xine installed, how does the One File Browser know which one to launch ? Or Emacs and Vi ? Or whatever ?

And yes, I realize you can set this in preferences; but suppose you want to use different tools for different tasks, despite the file format being the same ? Or if I just want to try out a new program ?

To save a file, why not drag it from the application to the directory window.

Because that would mean resizing application windows to fit them besides the directory windows, and be a lot more hassle than simply using a selector window ?

Matthew Thomas pointed out better than I could that the separate file-picker is user interface cruft left over from an earlier age.

No, it's a useability feature. Lacking a separate file selector would give users unneccessary grief.

Let's just have one file browser in the desktop and make it good enough to use for everything.

The more features you bundle into a single program, the less likely it performs any of them well, simply because different features (such as useability and low learning curve) conflict with one another.

Spring loaded folders

[unoengborg]

This new spatial apperance of the new Nautilus reminds me of old MacOS finder. I liked it back then and I will probably like it in Nautilus.
But I am a bit worried, some folder hierachies in Unix is quite deep.

Perhaps they should introduce something like the Mac spring loaded folders.I.e. if you want to move a file down in the hierachy you just drag and hold it over a folder, after a short while the window opens, and you hold the file over a folder in that window, until that opens and so on. When you finally reach the right folder you drop the file, and all windows you encountered on the way is closed automatically.