[ubuntu-studio-devel] Anoying/confusing things in our DE

[Len Ovens]

As prep for getting the best experience for 14.04 I would like to know 
what people find anoying about our default desktop. What are the first 
things you change. Not everything you or I find anoying should be changed 
as we are trying not to confuse people new to UbuntuStudio as well.

  -I like focus follows mouse. I have used things this way since I began 
using X with fvwm in the 90s. Probably won't get changed due to all the 
windows raised people around.
  - default to possition all new windows in centre of the screen. I would 
prefer under mouse... well really I prefer new windows to end up in clear 
desktop space, but we don't seem to have that on xfce. Anyway, centre of 
screen means all the windows go on top of each other :P
  - click and double click on the window title bar defaults to full screen 
or other action. The most common reason I click on the title bar is to 
move the window. I would prefer double click to do nothing. (the first 
thing to wear out of a mouse seems to be the left button resulting in 
unintended double clicks)
  - scroll wheel on mouse changes workspace. This is really confusing for 
those who have yet to get btheir minds wrapped around more than one 
workspace. This mildly anoying for the rest of us (well me anyway) as it 
means that as soon as the mouse wanders off of the window I am using the 
scroll wheel for scrolling with, I get a blank screen or some other app 
and have to go and find what I was working on again. I think this should 
default to off.
  - The bottom pannel....
    a) the bottom (at least for me) is a bad place for this. Left side. 
Monitors are no longer 3x4, using a side for this instead of bottom makes 
more sense.
    b) auto hide results in the application sharing the space the pannel 
takes as well as the whole bottom making it appear that the application 
being used no longer responding even though the mouse is not over the 
mouse itself. This may be fixable by making the pannel less than 100%
    c) I find the icon size too big. this is subjective :)
    d) Do we need this pannel at all?
    e) I think we could pick better apps to populate it.

  - The broken top pannel toys... these are being worked on... probably not 
a part of this discusion.

  - Desktop icons... first thing I turn off, I fill my desktop with apps 
anyway, getting used to starting/opening things from the desktop is not 
efficient. Probably won't get changed for histerical reasons.

  - clock format, and maybe app. We switched to Orage because the clock 
applet doesn't open a calendar when clicked. However, Orage is more 
difficult to set default time/date format. We should watch what Xubuntu 
does here.... it sounds like they are annoyed too :)

Please comment on any of these and feel free to add your pet peaves too... 
even if they seem opposite to mine. I do know how to set my desktop the 
way I want it, but would prefer that the average and new person gets the 
best workflow without having to learn to set things up. SO please think in 
these terms. We really do want productivity first, and nice looks right 
after that.

--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net