Oh I almost forgot to add one very, very important detail that really sets it apart: one-click extension support! If you go to extensions.gnome.org while running GNOME 3, you can click any extension you want, slide an on/off switch, and it's installed! You can change lots of different aspects of GNOME with this, like adding buttons to the User Menu in the corner, removing things you don't need in the UI, making the behavior more like that of GNOME 2 or other desktop environments, and whatever else you can code in javascript. Nearly any major problem you may have with GNOME 3 can be remedied with an extension, and there have been some very comprehensive ones released so far! I only use one extension, the "Alternative Status Menu" one, but I could easily live without it.
Here are some reasons from somebody that uses both GNOME 3 and Windows 7 on a daily basis:
* In Windows, if I want to switch to an application that has multiple windows (like a chat application) and I used Alt+Tab, it only brings up one window and I have to use Alt+Tab multiple times in succession to get all of the windows up. In GNOME 3, application windows are grouped by default so if I switch to my chat window, it also brings up my buddy list. If I want to switch to a specific window only, it lets me do that too with minimal effort.
* In Windows I feel like the Start menu is hard to navigate properly. Applications are sometimes grouped into folders and some aren't. There are no categories whatsoever. In GNOME 3 I not only get the same, handy "search" function that Windows 7 has, but I also get a much more intelligent application list which groups them by category and sorts them alphabetically without them being shoved into pointless folders.
* In Windows I feel like my application launchers are a distraction from my work. GNOME 3 helps me stay focused (yes this is an actual problem for me) by keeping the icons on the Activity overview, which is just as easy to open as the Start menu (Windows key).
* The clock is in the center of the top bar instead of useless white space. This isn't huge but it feels like a much better place for a clock than being shoved in the corner with a tiny font. This way it's larger easier to read from a distance and, since it's white text on black, it's also easier to look at in general.
* I just love the default theme. It has a lot of unnecessary padding, but it feels silky-smooth and "proper". The applications integrate well with it, too. Windows 7's Aero theme, while nice, feels somewhat pretentious and hacked-together. Also I don't really need glass-like transparency everywhere I look.
* Chat integration! I used to be a Pidgin fan when it comes to IM, but I tried Empathy and, while it has less features than Pidgin, it has just enough for me and it makes up for the lost features by being extremely simplistic and easy to use. No matter what window I have brought to the forefront, I can quickly respond from the nice little pop-up at the bottom of the screen without switching windows. Changing my availability from the status menu in the upper-right corner is also very nice since I don't have to hunt for a program icon in the "notification tray" or whatever people call it.
* It creates multiple desktops on-the-fly. I used to be the kind of person who had 4 desktops in a square formation, each for different programs, but with the new Alt+Tab functionality that has become rather outdated to me. In the event that I do need another desktop and I drag an application to another desktop, it makes a new, empty one right below it. My desktops dynamically adapt to my workflow instead of the other way around.
* I can click the application name in the top bar and close every single window owned by the application instead of hunting them all down.
* No minimizing ever! While most people rely on minimizing, I find no need to with GNOME 3. The desktop is uncluttered and simple, reducing distractions and removing the need to organize your icons and widgets and whatever else for it. The only times I'd ever feel like minimizing a window are obsoleted. Maximizing is also easier (though less straightforward at first) because, instead of hunting down the maximize button, I can just double-click the title-bar. This leaves more room for the close button in the corner of every window.
I could go on and on about the little things I love about it but I think I've made my point pretty clear by now. I can still use other desktops just fine but if I could replace them all with GNOME 3, I would in a heartbeat. Honestly the only reason I ever use Windows is for Steam games.
Re:Let's rename Gnome -- how bout GnOSXme?
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GNOME 3.4 Preview
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First of all, GNOME is far from an OSX clone. Unity or any old third-party dock is closer to OSX than GNOME 3 is. Sure, it shares some UI design elements, but every UI shares elements with others.
Second, the point of open-source software is not to make software that's completely interoperable across devices and desktops. It is simply to create software with, as the name suggests, open source-code that can be freely examined, studied, and modified. You wouldn't expect an open-source Windows application to work on most Linux-using desktop environments, would you? GNOME's applications are built to take advantage of GNOME's unique features and making them completely interchangeable with other applications would make the user experience suffer as a result.
I mean that I'm more tolerant with UI design than I once was. I used to take GNOME 2, remove all the panels, use some third-party dock and a bunch of third-party customization programs to make it look and feel nothing like it used to, for example. But the GNOME designers, IMO, have done such a stellar job with GNOME 3 that I'm willing to put up with some of its flaws in order to experience it the way it's designed.
Well if you read the article it's not exactly as "major" as you'd think. It's major relative to, say, adding a couple new buttons to the UI, but it's not full-on "Firefox 4/Office Ribbom"-style changes in that it doesn't completely change everything. Also, GNOME's major version numbers have only been incremented about two, three times in the project's lifetime. Each time, there have been really, REALLY major changes. From 1 to 2 they adopted a lot of new usability guidelines and simplified the UI. From 2 to 3 they took inspiration from mobile UIs and completely changed the way you interact with your desktop, somewhat similar to how Windows 8 is changing relative to Windows 7.
I know that it's considered traditional here on Slashdot to rant on GNOME 3 and how "awful" some people think it is, but can we at least keep that in the comments section? The article summaries should just say what's new, not whether or not you like the changes. I'm sick of hearing things like "maybe it's time to move to KDE for me" or "when will the GNOME developers listen to the community?" or similar things in article summaries here on Slashdot. Unless there's someone you're quoting who says that, please keep your comments in the comments section.
Anyway I'm really looking forward to GNOME 3.4! I'm really enjoying 3.2 on my desktop and I might just put it on my netbook too with this new update. The only real problems I've ever had with it are a couple problems with the notification area, to be honest. If they could improve that then I'd be willing to give it my full recommendation to nearly anybody... Well, excluding the people who like to really customize their UIs. I've grown past that and I'll just try to use what I'm given now, and this is honestly making it really easy for me instead of being really frustrating.
That's exactly the point, but not really the way you're thinking. TFA says that Apple and Google basically control, more or less, how the phones using their OSes are used. Mozilla doesn't want to give carriers more control over your data or freedom. Rather, they want to give carriers more freedom to make something unique that can give them a potential advantage over competitors. Whether or not a carrier will use that to allow an open device is besides the point.
Xoom instead of iPad, Droid instead of iPhone and Sansa instead of iPod.
Disregarding the rest of your post, I have to agree that Sansa makes pretty dang good portable music players. I have a Sansa Clip+ and even though the screen is nothing to brag about it does pretty much everything I want. It plays MP3, WMA, Vorbis (important to me), and even FLAC if you're stubborn enough to waste space with it. I got a 4GB model for around $40-50 (though they sell 8GB for a little bit more) and it's expandable with MicroSD card support. It even does FM radio so you can listen to crappy pop music if that's your thing;).
In all seriousness I haven't been happier with a portable media player. For the comparable iPod I'd have to spend much more and I'd get much less. Sure I'd get AAC support but who honestly cares outside of maybe audiophiles? MP3 and Vorbis are more than enough for me.
I use GNOME 3 as my main DE on my desktop and netbook using Arch Linux. I've used it since before it was officially released, and while it still has some ways to go, I really like it. I use it for work, I use it for fun, I use it for everything, really. There's nothing about the UI that gets in my way; in fact, it's easier to use than Windows 7 or Mac, IMO. I could honestly go on for pages about why I love it but everybody here on Slashdot with their ultra-conservative views on DE design will simply say I'm in denial and that it's bad no matter what I think. Well too bad for them because I love it and I'm going to keep using it and supporting it.
Please, tell me there's somebody else out there that doesn't mindlessly hate over it and actually enjoys it.
The UI sucks, and the trackpads aren't part of the operating system.
That's debatable (many people like it), and trackpads are certainly a part of a Mac. That's the subject, right? AC said there was no reason to buy a Mac, so I mentioned their trackpads as being much better than the competition. That's certainly a reason, yes?
The problem is that AdBlock doesn't work for the eyes. This is somebody displaying pornography to anybody who happens to look in his general direction. That's something you do in private, not where everybody's looking.
The difference between stocking Playboy and viewing porn on library computers is that on the computer, it's visible to everyone around you whether they want it or not. Public sex, last I checked, was illegal in the United States. Censorship-schmensorship, public decency is also a concern that, in this case, trumps it.
MP3.com wasn't a "file locker". It let you listen to copies of the music you didn't own. Compare MP3.com with, say, Google Music. On Google Music, you upload your own music yourself and use it on all of your Google Music-capable devices. There's no easy way to prove one way or the other that your files are illegal, so it's safe. MP3.com, though, had you just register your physical CDs with the website and then it let you stream copies of the music that you didn't make from their website. It was, in no way, a file locker for that reason.
"The Community" isn't full of haters. There are a lot of people, namely GNOME designers and people like me, who love it. The most vocal people are always the negative ones, you know, because the people enjoying GNOME are too busy enjoying it to share their experiences.
Also, these forks ALWAYS happen. They happened with GNOME 2, KDE 4, and nearly every other popular open source project that changed around a lot. In the end they always end up maturing and people get used to them... Then when another new version comes out people complain and moan about how the version they complained about is suddenly the "last version with any sense left". This GNOME 3 hate is really old and I'm starting to feel like people only post articles about it on here just to watch the flaming.
Two analog sticks, front and rear touch screen, a lot of power, great PSP/PSX emulator compatibility (much better than ePSXe or PCSX), and a cheaper price for people who can't afford a data plan for their phone.
The games have Desura support, no? Just install the Linux client and input your Desura key for the bundle to download them. It should work similar to Steam from there on out:)
You never did give a good reason for minimizing. You don't need to click anything on the desktop and you can use Alt+Tab and the overview to switch windows, so it's obsolete.
And I said there's a weather extension for the top bar. GNOME 3 is very new. Don't blame the developers for not having every single tiny feature that barely anybody uses when it's a very new OS.
Why would you need to? Just Alt+Tab or use the activities key to switch windows. Some add-ons can help with this as well. Minimizing is a thing of the past since the only good reason I can think of to do it, clicking on icons on your desktop, has been made obsolete by the activities overview.
Can I run my cpu and weather applet on top bar?
1) Do they need to be on the top bar? 2) Sure you can. Just write an extension for it. I've been using a weather extension and it works pretty well.
What about having more than one window open on the desktop?
Just click the window you want? How hard can that be? Tapping the activities key and clicking the window you want is also helpful, and you can always install a dock extension.
What if I want to see all that running while not leaving my libraoffice out of view or closed?
Tap the activities key or use Alt+Tab. Alt+Tab is mouse-navigable as well and gives you window previews.
Can I move my cursor over the icons and get a shrunken preview?
The activities overview has this as well as Alt+Tab.
Tell me, have you even tried to learn how to use GNOME Shell? Your entire comment reeks of anti-GNOME ignorance.
That's fine until all users disappear from your platform and you have an ever-shrinking market. How would you like it if Unix/Linux suddenly went down to 10 users? Would developing software for the platform still be as rewarding for you?
Pretty much. Every project I've ever worked on was because I wanted to make the project better and share the benefits with everyone; the whole point of FOSS, last I checked...
Last I checked, walled gardens were not legally forced by any major government (as far as I know), so you'll never be forced to use one. As long as we have open-source software, we'll never be forced to use walled gardens.
Counter-point: World of Goo, an award-winning indie game developed by two people, got on WiiWare.
That said, just because you develop a game doesn't mean it should get published. If he acted like a baby about it then I honestly don't see why I'd want his game to be published. We don't know why he was denied an SDK; maybe he was just as rude and immature as he acted during the protest when he wanted an SDK.
GNOME 3 is a major example of this. It's currently my favorite modern desktop next to Windows 7 and I love every innovation they have... But every time that GNOME 3 is brought up everybody just lashes on it for being "unusable" and "trash" and "changing for the sake of change". Sure there are some things about it that could use improvement, but do you really have to shout over and over how much you dislike it? Just man up and move on! I don't need to hear mindless bashing every time I open an article and read the comments; I want to hear constructive discussion. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean I can't enjoy it...
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Oh I almost forgot to add one very, very important detail that really sets it apart: one-click extension support! If you go to extensions.gnome.org while running GNOME 3, you can click any extension you want, slide an on/off switch, and it's installed! You can change lots of different aspects of GNOME with this, like adding buttons to the User Menu in the corner, removing things you don't need in the UI, making the behavior more like that of GNOME 2 or other desktop environments, and whatever else you can code in javascript. Nearly any major problem you may have with GNOME 3 can be remedied with an extension, and there have been some very comprehensive ones released so far! I only use one extension, the "Alternative Status Menu" one, but I could easily live without it.
Here are some reasons from somebody that uses both GNOME 3 and Windows 7 on a daily basis:
* In Windows, if I want to switch to an application that has multiple windows (like a chat application) and I used Alt+Tab, it only brings up one window and I have to use Alt+Tab multiple times in succession to get all of the windows up. In GNOME 3, application windows are grouped by default so if I switch to my chat window, it also brings up my buddy list. If I want to switch to a specific window only, it lets me do that too with minimal effort.
* In Windows I feel like the Start menu is hard to navigate properly. Applications are sometimes grouped into folders and some aren't. There are no categories whatsoever. In GNOME 3 I not only get the same, handy "search" function that Windows 7 has, but I also get a much more intelligent application list which groups them by category and sorts them alphabetically without them being shoved into pointless folders.
* In Windows I feel like my application launchers are a distraction from my work. GNOME 3 helps me stay focused (yes this is an actual problem for me) by keeping the icons on the Activity overview, which is just as easy to open as the Start menu (Windows key).
* The clock is in the center of the top bar instead of useless white space. This isn't huge but it feels like a much better place for a clock than being shoved in the corner with a tiny font. This way it's larger easier to read from a distance and, since it's white text on black, it's also easier to look at in general.
* I just love the default theme. It has a lot of unnecessary padding, but it feels silky-smooth and "proper". The applications integrate well with it, too. Windows 7's Aero theme, while nice, feels somewhat pretentious and hacked-together. Also I don't really need glass-like transparency everywhere I look.
* Chat integration! I used to be a Pidgin fan when it comes to IM, but I tried Empathy and, while it has less features than Pidgin, it has just enough for me and it makes up for the lost features by being extremely simplistic and easy to use. No matter what window I have brought to the forefront, I can quickly respond from the nice little pop-up at the bottom of the screen without switching windows. Changing my availability from the status menu in the upper-right corner is also very nice since I don't have to hunt for a program icon in the "notification tray" or whatever people call it.
* It creates multiple desktops on-the-fly. I used to be the kind of person who had 4 desktops in a square formation, each for different programs, but with the new Alt+Tab functionality that has become rather outdated to me. In the event that I do need another desktop and I drag an application to another desktop, it makes a new, empty one right below it. My desktops dynamically adapt to my workflow instead of the other way around.
* I can click the application name in the top bar and close every single window owned by the application instead of hunting them all down.
* No minimizing ever! While most people rely on minimizing, I find no need to with GNOME 3. The desktop is uncluttered and simple, reducing distractions and removing the need to organize your icons and widgets and whatever else for it. The only times I'd ever feel like minimizing a window are obsoleted. Maximizing is also easier (though less straightforward at first) because, instead of hunting down the maximize button, I can just double-click the title-bar. This leaves more room for the close button in the corner of every window.
I could go on and on about the little things I love about it but I think I've made my point pretty clear by now. I can still use other desktops just fine but if I could replace them all with GNOME 3, I would in a heartbeat. Honestly the only reason I ever use Windows is for Steam games.
First of all, GNOME is far from an OSX clone. Unity or any old third-party dock is closer to OSX than GNOME 3 is. Sure, it shares some UI design elements, but every UI shares elements with others.
Second, the point of open-source software is not to make software that's completely interoperable across devices and desktops. It is simply to create software with, as the name suggests, open source-code that can be freely examined, studied, and modified. You wouldn't expect an open-source Windows application to work on most Linux-using desktop environments, would you? GNOME's applications are built to take advantage of GNOME's unique features and making them completely interchangeable with other applications would make the user experience suffer as a result.
I mean that I'm more tolerant with UI design than I once was. I used to take GNOME 2, remove all the panels, use some third-party dock and a bunch of third-party customization programs to make it look and feel nothing like it used to, for example. But the GNOME designers, IMO, have done such a stellar job with GNOME 3 that I'm willing to put up with some of its flaws in order to experience it the way it's designed.
Ribbom
Err, I mean "ribbon". I need to look at spell-check more...
Well if you read the article it's not exactly as "major" as you'd think. It's major relative to, say, adding a couple new buttons to the UI, but it's not full-on "Firefox 4/Office Ribbom"-style changes in that it doesn't completely change everything. Also, GNOME's major version numbers have only been incremented about two, three times in the project's lifetime. Each time, there have been really, REALLY major changes. From 1 to 2 they adopted a lot of new usability guidelines and simplified the UI. From 2 to 3 they took inspiration from mobile UIs and completely changed the way you interact with your desktop, somewhat similar to how Windows 8 is changing relative to Windows 7.
but some of them seem questionable
I know that it's considered traditional here on Slashdot to rant on GNOME 3 and how "awful" some people think it is, but can we at least keep that in the comments section? The article summaries should just say what's new, not whether or not you like the changes. I'm sick of hearing things like "maybe it's time to move to KDE for me" or "when will the GNOME developers listen to the community?" or similar things in article summaries here on Slashdot. Unless there's someone you're quoting who says that, please keep your comments in the comments section.
Anyway I'm really looking forward to GNOME 3.4! I'm really enjoying 3.2 on my desktop and I might just put it on my netbook too with this new update. The only real problems I've ever had with it are a couple problems with the notification area, to be honest. If they could improve that then I'd be willing to give it my full recommendation to nearly anybody... Well, excluding the people who like to really customize their UIs. I've grown past that and I'll just try to use what I'm given now, and this is honestly making it really easy for me instead of being really frustrating.
That's exactly the point, but not really the way you're thinking. TFA says that Apple and Google basically control, more or less, how the phones using their OSes are used. Mozilla doesn't want to give carriers more control over your data or freedom. Rather, they want to give carriers more freedom to make something unique that can give them a potential advantage over competitors. Whether or not a carrier will use that to allow an open device is besides the point.
Xoom instead of iPad, Droid instead of iPhone and Sansa instead of iPod.
Disregarding the rest of your post, I have to agree that Sansa makes pretty dang good portable music players. I have a Sansa Clip+ and even though the screen is nothing to brag about it does pretty much everything I want. It plays MP3, WMA, Vorbis (important to me), and even FLAC if you're stubborn enough to waste space with it. I got a 4GB model for around $40-50 (though they sell 8GB for a little bit more) and it's expandable with MicroSD card support. It even does FM radio so you can listen to crappy pop music if that's your thing ;).
In all seriousness I haven't been happier with a portable media player. For the comparable iPod I'd have to spend much more and I'd get much less. Sure I'd get AAC support but who honestly cares outside of maybe audiophiles? MP3 and Vorbis are more than enough for me.
I use GNOME 3 as my main DE on my desktop and netbook using Arch Linux. I've used it since before it was officially released, and while it still has some ways to go, I really like it. I use it for work, I use it for fun, I use it for everything, really. There's nothing about the UI that gets in my way; in fact, it's easier to use than Windows 7 or Mac, IMO. I could honestly go on for pages about why I love it but everybody here on Slashdot with their ultra-conservative views on DE design will simply say I'm in denial and that it's bad no matter what I think. Well too bad for them because I love it and I'm going to keep using it and supporting it.
Please, tell me there's somebody else out there that doesn't mindlessly hate over it and actually enjoys it.
The UI sucks, and the trackpads aren't part of the operating system.
That's debatable (many people like it), and trackpads are certainly a part of a Mac. That's the subject, right? AC said there was no reason to buy a Mac, so I mentioned their trackpads as being much better than the competition. That's certainly a reason, yes?
You can't use the Mac OSX UI and have the same application compatabilty somewhere else. That's one thing.
Also, their trackpads ROCK (and I'm saying this as a Linux-lover).
The problem is that AdBlock doesn't work for the eyes. This is somebody displaying pornography to anybody who happens to look in his general direction. That's something you do in private, not where everybody's looking.
The difference between stocking Playboy and viewing porn on library computers is that on the computer, it's visible to everyone around you whether they want it or not. Public sex, last I checked, was illegal in the United States. Censorship-schmensorship, public decency is also a concern that, in this case, trumps it.
Doesn't GNOME Shell already do this? I've been pretty happy with its search features since before it was launched.
MP3.com wasn't a "file locker". It let you listen to copies of the music you didn't own. Compare MP3.com with, say, Google Music. On Google Music, you upload your own music yourself and use it on all of your Google Music-capable devices. There's no easy way to prove one way or the other that your files are illegal, so it's safe. MP3.com, though, had you just register your physical CDs with the website and then it let you stream copies of the music that you didn't make from their website. It was, in no way, a file locker for that reason.
"The Community" isn't full of haters. There are a lot of people, namely GNOME designers and people like me, who love it. The most vocal people are always the negative ones, you know, because the people enjoying GNOME are too busy enjoying it to share their experiences.
Also, these forks ALWAYS happen. They happened with GNOME 2, KDE 4, and nearly every other popular open source project that changed around a lot. In the end they always end up maturing and people get used to them... Then when another new version comes out people complain and moan about how the version they complained about is suddenly the "last version with any sense left". This GNOME 3 hate is really old and I'm starting to feel like people only post articles about it on here just to watch the flaming.
Two analog sticks, front and rear touch screen, a lot of power, great PSP/PSX emulator compatibility (much better than ePSXe or PCSX), and a cheaper price for people who can't afford a data plan for their phone.
The games have Desura support, no? Just install the Linux client and input your Desura key for the bundle to download them. It should work similar to Steam from there on out :)
You never did give a good reason for minimizing. You don't need to click anything on the desktop and you can use Alt+Tab and the overview to switch windows, so it's obsolete.
And I said there's a weather extension for the top bar. GNOME 3 is very new. Don't blame the developers for not having every single tiny feature that barely anybody uses when it's a very new OS.
How do I minimize a window?
Why would you need to? Just Alt+Tab or use the activities key to switch windows. Some add-ons can help with this as well. Minimizing is a thing of the past since the only good reason I can think of to do it, clicking on icons on your desktop, has been made obsolete by the activities overview.
Can I run my cpu and weather applet on top bar?
1) Do they need to be on the top bar?
2) Sure you can. Just write an extension for it. I've been using a weather extension and it works pretty well.
What about having more than one window open on the desktop?
Just click the window you want? How hard can that be? Tapping the activities key and clicking the window you want is also helpful, and you can always install a dock extension.
What if I want to see all that running while not leaving my libraoffice out of view or closed?
Tap the activities key or use Alt+Tab. Alt+Tab is mouse-navigable as well and gives you window previews.
Can I move my cursor over the icons and get a shrunken preview?
The activities overview has this as well as Alt+Tab.
Tell me, have you even tried to learn how to use GNOME Shell? Your entire comment reeks of anti-GNOME ignorance.
That's fine until all users disappear from your platform and you have an ever-shrinking market. How would you like it if Unix/Linux suddenly went down to 10 users? Would developing software for the platform still be as rewarding for you?
Pretty much. Every project I've ever worked on was because I wanted to make the project better and share the benefits with everyone; the whole point of FOSS, last I checked...
Last I checked, walled gardens were not legally forced by any major government (as far as I know), so you'll never be forced to use one. As long as we have open-source software, we'll never be forced to use walled gardens.
Counter-point: World of Goo, an award-winning indie game developed by two people, got on WiiWare.
That said, just because you develop a game doesn't mean it should get published. If he acted like a baby about it then I honestly don't see why I'd want his game to be published. We don't know why he was denied an SDK; maybe he was just as rude and immature as he acted during the protest when he wanted an SDK.
GNOME 3 is a major example of this. It's currently my favorite modern desktop next to Windows 7 and I love every innovation they have... But every time that GNOME 3 is brought up everybody just lashes on it for being "unusable" and "trash" and "changing for the sake of change". Sure there are some things about it that could use improvement, but do you really have to shout over and over how much you dislike it? Just man up and move on! I don't need to hear mindless bashing every time I open an article and read the comments; I want to hear constructive discussion. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean I can't enjoy it...