"Log Out" menu has too many items

[Øivind Hoel]

On 3/22/06, Armand CORBEAUX <acorbeaux at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> "Log Out" for Dapper is really cool, but it is in the same time too heavy to
> be effective.
>
> 1- Why the lock screen has been put in the "Log Out" menu?
>
> To be honest I don't understand...
> Lock screen is an important feature in company: you get out of your
> computer, you lock it.
> To be effective, it will be better to put a "Lock Screen" icon next to "Log
> Out" icon in the panel. In this way users don't have to think "where is the
> Lock Screen option".
> The "Lock Screen" feature is not a toy, but a daily used feature, which must
> be immediately usable and activable.Activate it through the "Log Out" menu
> is a loose of time.

I kind of agree here. Though this is probably mostly out of habit, I
always lock my screen using the System menu, not through the logout
dialog (and I don't really expect to find a "lock screen" button in my
logout menu, either.

>
> 2- Sleep or Hibernate?
>
> Don't understand the choice too...
> Is the "Log Out" menu the best place to show what the OS is able to do?
> I explain: as a common user I don't use hibernate or sleep, even if I'm
> using a laptop.
>  If you take a look around, you see that ~95% of the laptop users doesn't
> used hibernate or sleep feature.

Based on careful observation of... yourself? ;-)

I still have the day suspend started working for my laptop marked in
PINK in my calendar (!), and I don't know a single person who's not
equally fond of the functionality.

> If a user uses hibernate or sleep, most of the time it's because it follows
> the power-management rules that he has set up.
> If a user uses hibernate or sleep to "cut" his laptop, most of the time he
> prefers one of the 2 options, or one of the 2 options crashs when he tries
> to recover his session (or he must be a 'power-user' to fix it [power_user
> is a user that is able to edit configuration files]).

I don't think I understand what you're saying here, but yes, using
only the "preferred" method of sleep would reduce clutter in the
logout dialog, but what should this be based on, really? There are a
number of places in power preferences where you select either suspend
or hibernate. Maybe the sleep button action? In that case, g-p-m
wording would have to be updated, and I still don't think this is a
very user-friendly solution.

>
> In this way, could it be possible to purpose to the user in the "Log Out "
> menu only one icon, which reflects the user's preference which has been set
> up in the power-management interface?
>
> 3- A bigger "shutdown" icon?
> I know that the linux myth is "you never have to shutdown your computer".
> But in companies as in a lot of houses, computers are shutdown at the end of
> the day or of the use (1st because it reduces the fire risk, 2nd because it
> reduces energy consumption).
> In a 2nd time when someone get a computer for the 1st time, after playing
> with his new "toy" his 1st question is: "how do I shutdown this f***?".
> Because "shutdown" is the most important option in the world, it could be
> twice bigger than others.

Right, increase the risk of an unintended shutdown! Not quite the way
to go, imho...

>
> In this way the "Log Out" menu could look as it :
>
> Log Out                 |   Switch    |      SHUT
> Sleep or Hibernate  |   Reboot   |      DOWN
>
> Only 5 options, less confusion for new users. And "Lock Screen" option next
> to "Log Out" option in the panel.

Lock screen is already in the menus, no reason to add another applet
for the job ;)

>
> Armand
>
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