Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Friday 14 November 2008, 12:51 PM
Desktop UI idea - best of both worlds?
Anyway, I was considering the issues facing Linux UIs in particular. While Ubuntu is gaining loads of traction by providing an experience that is not dissimilar to Windows, in my mind the best Linux UIs are those found on netbooks, such as the Linpus distro on the Acer Aspire One. The genius of such interfaces lies in their simplicity - they're pretty much idiot-proof. Simple panel with big buttons, one for websurfing, one for documents and so on.
That works brilliantly on a netbook, what with the limited screen size of such machines. But it will be too cut-down for many users, who will want their sea of desktop icons available to them at all times. Fair enough.
So, what about having the best of both worlds? Is there any reason why a single distro cannot use both UIs, simply toggling between them at the press of a button? Which button? Well, there's a ruddy great key on all keyboards that currently does nothing when you're on the desktop - the space bar.
Speaking for myself, I'd find it extremely convenient to be able to make the UI on my laptop - whether the machine be big or small - simple or complex, just by tapping the space bar. Imagine it - both versions of UI would retain the same user-chosen background image; it's just that one version would make the small icons invisible and bring up a basic panel in the middle of the screen (think the box you see when you press ctrl-L), and the other would be the Windows-esque mess we all need from time to time.
It'd also mean the same distro would be well suited to netbooks and desktops alike.
Anyway, it's just a thought. Any further thoughts from y'all?
PreviousComments on this post
I like that idea.
I recently played around with the Asus Eee 701 PC and I loved the "Baby Toy" style buttons.
I felt it was much more akin to "does what is says on the tin" and I would love to have that interface on my normal Linux pc. However there are times when the standard interface would suit me better.
So the idea you can toggle between different interfaces depending on your mood is an capital A excellent idea. I would have probably thought of it myself if I was currently single :-)
Good idea and hope it comes true.
Fits the No. 1 good idea criterea. i.e. obvious when you're told about it.
Yes. As Tezzer said, it sounds good. Actually it shouldn't be too hard to do in Linux either.
The double ctrl key would have been a better choice but Google got there first, with their desktop search pop-up. The main problem using the space key is when writing in a comment box such as this, If your current focus is a text box the space bar won't produce your desired effect of a change to your desktop. You could always use the 'Windows' Key, most keyboards now have it.
I bet you could do this really easily. With a computer running Splashtop or one of the other instant-on Linuxes that live in ROM, all you need to do to get it up and running from within another OS is to kick off a virtual instance of your PC. You don't even need an OS in that image, and with all the free desktop virtualisation systems out there you could install this yourself for no money and not much more time. Set up a hotkey in the virtualisation program's desktop icon (alas, Windows only lets you select a Ctrl-Alt- combination, but I'm sure there are utilities out there with more flexibility) and you're there.
If you don't have Splashtop, then I guess you have to pick a tiny distro and virtualise it. May try that later.
What would be really ideal would be to have a dedicated hardware switch that just flips the computer into its pocket OS. Something like a big red button or a nice toggly toggle. Hell, build it into the monitor. Then we'll back to the Windows SmartDisplay... um, perhaps not...
