People Click to Load Applications?
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Jeff91 Aug 22, 2011 8:09 AM EDT |
They must be uneducated then! I've been using E for over two years now and it's "run everything" tool makes clicking to load things obsolete. Even when I still used Gnome2/KDE I used Do/Krunner to almost the same effect (they aren't quite as powerful). We outline the Everything tool in our Bodhi docs pretty well - I have yet to find someone who understands how Everything works that doesn't start using it all the time (at least in the E desktop). http://www.bodhilinux.com/wiki/doku.php?id=e17_-_the_bodhi_g... ~Jeff |
| dixiedancer Aug 24, 2011 6:41 AM EDT |
I don't know how typing the name of an app is any advantage over single-clicking a launcher, but that's just me. I think Unity looks pretty cool though, and I think it's going to develop into something really awesome, given a little time and testing. |
| gus3 Aug 24, 2011 8:32 AM EDT |
Hand movement. It's the same as using the keyboard to navigate an application's menus, instead of using the mouse. |
| tuxchick Aug 24, 2011 9:42 AM EDT |
I can't be the only one amused by autocomplete, a feature of the command shell for decades, finally coming to the GUI :). Though this Everything tool looks quite interesting and full of features. |
| techiem2 Aug 24, 2011 1:01 PM EDT |
I've been using gmrun in fluxbox and xfce for ages. I just set a hotkey to run it then type and tab (yes, it has tab completion). I'll have to take a look at this Everything thingy too. |
| mrider Aug 24, 2011 1:29 PM EDT |
Mouse and menus are for times when one knows that something exists, but not precisely what it is or where it is. If one knows the exact name and or location of the program or file, then clicking is a waste of time. But random searching and digging around (at least for me) seems much easier done the mousey gooey way. (Edited out the Department of Redundancy Department text) |
| Grishnakh Aug 24, 2011 3:30 PM EDT |
mrider wrote:Mouse and menus are for times when one knows that something exists, but not precisely what it is or where it is. If one knows the exact name and or location of the program or file, then clicking is a waste of time. Mostly correct IMO. If, for instance, I'm looking for a game to play, and I don't remember the exact name, or perhaps I just want to browse through the dozens of games installed on my PC and pick one on a whim, I can just click on my applications menu, go to "Games", then look through all the games (or through the subcategories, like "board games", "action games", "card games", etc. to narrow down the selection). A system that didn't have this application menu would be very frustrating since it wouldn't present me with a menu of all my installed games. When I install a new Linux distro, I generally just select all the games that look interesting, which is probably well over 100, and let the installer install them all. It's not like I have a lack of disk space in this age of 1-3TB hard drives. I may never play half of them, but they're there if I want to check them out when I have some free time. If I do know the executable name of exactly what I want, however, it's frequently much faster to just type Alt-F2 and start tying the name, rather than navigate this menu. However, if there's an application I use a LOT, it's frequently easier to just put its icon on my main panel and click on that. This is also helpful if I use a special command-line with it. For instance, I have a spreadsheet I use daily, so instead of wasting a lot of clicks or typing every time I want to open it, I have an icon on my panel that starts OpenOffice Calc with that spreadsheet. |
| tracyanne Aug 24, 2011 10:15 PM EDT |
@Jeff91, you lost me the moment I read that you have to start typing to locate an application launcher. I don't want to type anything when it comes to launching applications, and I don't want to have to remember key combinations either, which is why if I perform a task in the command line more than a few times I create a script and add it to my menu System.. so I can launch it with a couple of simple mouse clicks. |
| gus3 Aug 24, 2011 10:44 PM EDT |
tracyanne, at this point the Everything launcher is merely another option. You don't have to use it if you don't want to; it'll be quite happy to sit, unused, while its companion E17 modules stay constantly busy. |
| number6x Aug 24, 2011 11:39 PM EDT |
One of the goals of unity is to unify the tablet and the desktop ui.
designing a ui that you type your application name into is pretty much a non-starter for the tablet side of things. As many here have pointed out, there were already multiple apps that let you do just this under existing ui's without the loss of existing menu options. For the desktop, it is probably better for people whose fingers spend a lot of time on the keyboard and know the applications they want by name. If you are a mouser, it is much less productive (click a desktop icon once vs. clicking several keys on a keyboard and clicking enter). If you are on a tablet it is hopeless (activate an on-screen keyboard and start typing vs. sliding through app icons). It is not a unifying feature of unity. It is very desktop and keyboard oriented. |
| Fettoosh Aug 25, 2011 9:09 AM EDT |
Quoting:If you are on a tablet it is hopeless Add speech recognition/commands and problem solved. Can anyone who have been around the technology say we are not heading this way? |
| mortenalver Aug 25, 2011 12:57 PM EDT |
Perhaps I'm weird, but I don't really want to go around talking to my electronic devices. |
| skelband Aug 25, 2011 1:18 PM EDT |
@mortenalver: No you're not the only one. I used to think that speech recognition was the future for many things and we see it all the time on science fiction films, but I don't think this will happen any time soon, even if the technology were to permit it. I think this for two reasons: 1) The biggest problem is that machines are not advanced enough or have enough real world experience to perform complex tasks after being given a simple instruction. As things stand, it seems natural to issue a general instruction like "make the tea" or "take the dog for a walk" and expect the receiver to get on with it. This is the mode of operation that we see in Star Trek and the like. However, you see them demonstrating the potential problems with talking to a machine where you have to get really wordy to do anything of use: Me: Make me a bowl of soup Computer: What type of soup, there are 5173 recipes on file. Me: Minestrone: Computer: What type of minestrone, there are 16 recipes on file. Me: Pick one at random Computer: What temperature do you prefer? and on and on and on.... It is a bit of a contrived example but the point is made. It just doesn't make sense or feel comfortable issuing such a long string of basic instructions for something that would be easy to ask another human. 2) Like video conversations on your mobile phone, people just don't want it. They would feel uncomfortable talking to a device in the street or on the train. It's bad enough using a hands-free set with people looking at you strangely as though you are talking to yourself. |
| Jeff91 Aug 25, 2011 1:34 PM EDT |
tracyanne You don't need to type anything to find the application. In fact if you don't know what you are looking for at all or what it is called - everything defaults to a "normal menu" type layout that can quickly be navigated through via keyboard or mouse (keyboard is always faster for an experienced user IMO). So everything is only an improvement on the menu where is Unity is a step backwards. EDIT: For example see this image - http://i.imgur.com/FptqP.png Where applications I launch commonly are towards the top. I can then search for others to launch simply by typing their name or I can use the arrow keys+enter to go through the menu or the mouse. ~Jeff |
| tracyanne Aug 25, 2011 5:56 PM EDT |
Quoting:that can quickly be navigated through via keyboard or mouse (keyboard is always faster for an experienced user IMO). Faster, probably, but not as convenient. I'm lazy. when I'm navigating the menu I prefer to use a mouse, not use special key combinations, or even set out to remeber special combinations. I started out on mainframes, and when I discovered the mouse on early Macs, I fell in love with it. I may well be the only computer user with as many years using computers who shuns special key combinations, who only uses the keyboard for typing, and never for navigation. |
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