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Ubuntu Gets a New Visual Identity
buntcake writes "Canonical has launched a new visual identity for the Ubuntu Linux distribution. Ubuntu is shedding its previous brown look and adopting a more professional color scheme with purple and orange. The colors will be used in a new GNOME theme and boot splash for Ubuntu 10.04. According to updated design documents that were published in the Ubuntu wiki, 'light' is the underlying concept behind the new visual identity. It displaces the 'human' concept that has been part of Ubuntu's theming and brand vernacular for the past five years. Ubuntu community manager Jono Bacon has posted a screenshot and additional information."
Windows 7 has many improvements over Vista.
I love the new window dragging features. Dragging a window to the top maximizes. Dragging to the side takes up half the screen. Dragging the top or bottom bar makes it go full-vertical. Windows Key + Arrow Keys also do those actions (as well as Restore/Minimize). Ctrl + Windows Key + Arrow Keys move windows across monitors.
Pinned taskbar icons remind me of the OS X dock, both of which keep everything ordered and uncluttered. Windows Key + Number 1 key will open a new window for the first taskbar icon, number 2 key for the second taskbar icon, and so on. Jump lists give you quick access to common tasks.
Just the fact that the taskbar buttons can be icon-only (square) means I can dock it on the left of the screen without it being difficult to use. (Again, like the OS X dock... that's how I've run both OS's for quite a while.)
Other than the steps backwards they took with Vista that are still around (like some of the layers of control panel/networking/etc. you have to go through to get anywhere), I generally have nothing but positive to say about the direction Microsoft went with the Windows 7 UI.
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
what is 'infinite-dimension' effect?
I was referring to the fact that a GUI element on the edge (or corner) of a screen has, in effect, infinite size in the given dimension by virtue of the fact that the cursor cannot leave the screen, and thus, any overshot of the cursor in that direction will still leave the cursor over the GUI element.
I believe it's most commonly referenced as an implication of Fitts' Law
Obviously, this is only true when the window is maximised (something I forgot to mention in my original post).
Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
Quite the opposite imho. For example: Where again do you do desktop zoom in windows to see that video fullscreen where the website prefers to surround it by ads? Or how do I control a window transparency with a key plus the mouse wheel, so that I can see the window behind it too? Is it possible at all to choose which windows remain 'always on top' or 'always on bottom'? Oh, and what shady buggy shareware do I need to get multiple desktops, and why can't I assign my own keyboard shortcuts to switch around them? Why can't I run a program on one computer and let it display on another?
When I start a big program that takes a couple of seconds to start, and I go to the 'start' menu to start another program before the first one opens, then why does windows think it's a good idea to suddenly remove the menu where I'm trying to lookup that other program, just because the first program got far enough to open its first window?
Why, after logging in, when it looks on the screen that the computer is ready for me, does the mouse pointer still blink/flash and not let me actually do usefull things while the only thing happening is the harddrive light being on and the junk bar on the bottom getting larger and larger.
Why does every program inform me in a different way that it has an update, or wants to check online for updates, and why do I need to reboot that often for that?
What is 'fast web search', why does it hyjack my browser and make everything slower and how did it get in there, and how do I get rid of it? (repeat for dozens more spyware/adware).
What is an adware scanner anyway? And why do I still need a virus scanner band-aid in the 21st century? Shouldn't that OS problem be actually solved by now?
Why did my webcam suddenly stop working after a windows update, and why do the Microsoft help pages do nothing more than ask me if their advice helped, instead of actually helping?
Why can't I print a photo on my HP printer with the software that came with windows without it complaining about wrong paper size, unless I download and install a program like irfanview for that?
Staring at 'Configuring updates Step 1 of 3' instead of letting me do what I need to do...
And why does the 'home' version of windows not have simple effects such as a nice 3d flip/cover switcher?
None of the above problems or limitations with Gnome nor KDE...
Maybe the windows ui was grey in 2002 and has candy colors today, it still blows, that's all.