Shakey-Lo on 15/1/2011 at 11:56
Thanks henke. Neglected to post my laptop:
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/qU1Wb.jpgHave had that since I first got the laptop, about five years ago. My film professor recoiled in horror when I booted up.
Here's my previous PC wallpaper:
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/F5KLL.jpgAdapted from a Metropolis poster. Made so that the colour matched the wall sat directly behind my monitor. As you can see I was still living like a heathen without the blissful enlightenment of the slide-away sidebar.
Zerker on 15/1/2011 at 13:43
I just have a large list of wallpapers that picks every time I log in. Here's a nice one:
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9oaZktbTp8dcwwXLfmygtA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_oplN2BrHsqI/TTGhSNSWxTI/AAAAAAAABNU/lulcnHh__X4/s144/desktop.png" height="90" width="144" /></a>
Some info:
I'm running (
http://xubuntu.org/) Xubuntu 10.10 (Xfce 4.6.2)
GTK Theme is (
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Glow?content=85996) Glow Sand
Icon theme is (
http://tiheum.deviantart.com/art/Faenza-Icons-173323228) Faenza
Xfwm4 theme is default
Not that you can really tell the GTK or Xfwm4 theme from just the desktop ;)
steo on 15/1/2011 at 14:42
I don't know how so many of you guys can handle large taskbar icons and so many things pinned to it in Windows 7. I have small icons, show window labels/only group windows when taskbar is full, double height taskbar and quick launch bar enabled.
Shakey-Lo on 15/1/2011 at 15:01
well with "always combine" on then the number of icons on the taskbar practically never changes. it also makes having a separate "quick start" section redundant. it basically operates in exactly the same way as the os x dock. it makes it less busy, not more. you also know exactly where each window is going to be sitting on the taskbar every time. the old windows 95 way is so passe.
Queue on 15/1/2011 at 16:06
I can't post my desktop due to forum decency issues, and several State laws. :(
steo on 15/1/2011 at 16:14
What pisses me off with always combine is that it takes longer to get to the window that you're looking for. Case in point, Firefox - if you have the downloads tab open it takes two clicks to maximize firefox instead of one. I also find it a pain when I've got multiple explorer windows open to navigate to the one I want, because I have to first click on the icon to get a list of the different windows I've got open, and then click on the one I want.
With my setup, I can already see the names of all the different explorer windows I've got open and by the time I've moved the mouse down to the taskbar, I know which one I'm going to click on. With grouped icons, I can't see the list of windows I've got open until after I've clicked the taskbar icon, so it takes longer to bring it up. I know it's not a big difference in terms of time, but with a UI I want to be able to operate it as quickly as possible. Also, with a double-height taskbar and 1920x1080 resolution, it's pretty rare that I run out of space - and when I do, it's usually just because I'm being lazy and not closing windows I'm not using anymore.
Furthermore, the quicklaunch bar is superior to pinned icons for me, because it is so much more compact.
Renzatic on 15/1/2011 at 17:45
Quote Posted by steo
With my setup, I can already see the names of all the different explorer windows I've got open and by the time I've moved the mouse down to the taskbar, I know which one I'm going to click on. With grouped icons, I can't see the list of windows I've got open until after I've clicked the taskbar icon, so it takes longer to bring it up. I know it's not a big difference in terms of time, but with a UI I want to be able to operate it as quickly as possible. Also, with a double-height taskbar and 1920x1080 resolution, it's pretty rare that I run out of space - and when I do, it's usually just because I'm being lazy and not closing windows I'm not using anymore.
Furthermore, the quicklaunch bar is superior to pinned icons for me, because it is so much more compact.
It's a subjective thing, but I find the Windows 7 way of pinning and organizing things to be far superior to the oldschool taskbar. I find having a double sized taskbar filled with open windows squished in alongside a slew of quicklaunch icons to be too busy and inefficient on space. Like if I want to have two instances of the same program open, I have to click on the quick launch link, which does nothing but launch the program, then drag the two big ass bars together so I'll have them grouped neatly next to each other. If I have a bunch of explorer windows, photoshop, and whatever else open, they're scattered across the taskbar in whatever order I've opened them. When things get busy, I'll have a bunch of similar looking bars I have to scan through to get what I want.
With Win7, I just middle click the icon, and they're immediately grouped together, and always in the same location. I don't have to waste space with extra quick launch icons, because the icons on the taskbar already serve that function, and I have access to the jump lists, which are awesome handy things once you get used to using them. For me, having to occasionally make that extra click or 1/10th of a second mouse hover is a more than fair tradeoff, because it brings up a list of specific windows I can identify visually from the stuff inside them. It shaves off...like...whole seconds of time.
Mix it with Launchy, and I can open up and navigate to any program or folder on my comp in practically no time at all. I always know where everything goes on the taskbar, and I can get to it without any problems.
Zerker on 15/1/2011 at 18:14
I'm not really sure why you'd need launchy on Windows 7 when the start menu searches more or less the same way.
It's very useful on XP however. Still not as nice as Gnome-Do or Quicksilver :(
Renzatic on 15/1/2011 at 18:36
Quote Posted by Zerker
I'm not really sure why you'd need launchy on Windows 7 when the start menu searches more or less the same way.
I like Launchy because I can train it, whereas the start menu search always brings up the exact same things in the exact same order. Like if I want to bring up my projects folder, in Launchy, I type in "pr", hit enter and I'm there. If it doesn't bring up what I want immediately, I only have to launch it and bring up the drop down bar a couple of times before it starts making a preference for that folder. The start menu search displays programs first, control panel second, and folders third, so I have to hit the down key 6 or 7 times before I can select it.
Quote:
Still not as nice as Gnome-Do or Quicksilver :(
I miss Gnome-Do and Quicksilver every time I'm on Windows. Launchy is alright, but it needs alot more work before it can compare to either of those.
