User Interface of the X Configuration Tool

[Corey Burger]

On 5/31/07, Sebastian Heinlein <glatzor at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> I made a new design that allows a much faster workflow:
>
> http://glatzor.de/filesink/allinone.png
>
> To make the space limitations more visible I made a screen shot of the
> whole 640x480 desktop.
>
> General:
> * The new dialog only has got two tabs. One for the screens and one
>   for the graphics cards. This removes the need to switch to several
>   to only setup a different second screen. Furthermore this gives as
>   space to put extra options corresponding to the graphics card on
>   the second tab (videoram, disable 3D or custom option)
> (* On Xinerama setups we could try to guess the screens and to display
>    an on screen label)
> * Using Screen and Graphics (Preferences) as a name for the dialog would
>   make the gfx card driver settings easier to find
> * The first tab now uses a singular as label, since the
>   configuration options on the left side only affect one/the selected
>   screen
> * Hiding multiple the screens widgets would still scale down the dialog
>   well for single screen setups
>
> Screen Selector (left side of the first tab):
> * In the selector the screens are only listed by their output number
>   and short information (default or disabled). This gives us more
>   space for the options on the right side.
> * The monitors of different cards will be separated by a separator
> * Sexy-Python could be used to put extra information about the screen
>   on a tooltip
> * The icon in the selector will be shaded if the screen is currently not
>   used (disabled)
> * Disabled rules hint to reduce visual noise
>
> Screen Options (right side of the first tab):
> * The options are separated into three groups that are separated by a
>   larger white space: device settings, default screen, secondary
>   screen
> * Orientation support was dropped, since XRandR tends to break
>   Xinerama setups and their is no store/restore infrastructure currently
>   for this option. As a side note: instant apply of resolution changes
>   is now also disabled on dual screen layouts.
> * The make default button and the secondary screen controls are disabled
>   for the default screen
> * The device/model chooser is now also left aligned
>
> What do you think about this?

It looks cool. Just a few notes:

 * "Monitor" is a much more common term than "Screen".
 * The way we display which monitor is very much suboptimal. Rather
than simply showing the monitors and where they are and then be able
to move them around, we end up with a situation wherein there is a
great deal of wasted space (most users have a single monitor, a few
have 2 and a vanishingly few have 3 or more). However, fitting that
into 640x480 is a challenge.

Corey