Carsons Post

The desktop metaphor has been kicking around since the Mac made it hip and cool in the '80 - and for desktop computers it seems to work pretty well. Winactivity areadows picked it up with Windows 3.1 and Linux has also used a variant of the idea. But can it be better?

Its a good question. Sometimes the metaphor doesn't work - like on mobile phones or netbooks. With restricted screen space there is no point in using this analogy, so netbook-specific operating systems such as Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Moblin have dumped the desktop idea.

Linux and Macs have played with the virtual desktop idea, allowing users to switch between different virtual "desktops" - but to me it hasn't really made sense as it stretches the metaphor too far.

Gnome Shell is a new project that aims to put forward a new revision to the Gnome desktop idea for Gnome 3.0 next year (for those who don't know, Gnome is one of the most popular options for the "look and feel" of the Linux Operating System). It provides a taskbar, menu structure but also a virtual desktop manager. It changes the metaphor slightly, making it easier to think of each virtual desktop as a "workspace" than an arbitrary collection of windows.

An example: I am logging in to work in the morning. The first thing I check is my email. I can open my email application by double clicking in it in the menu structure or dragging it from the menu into my current workspace and it opens. After I've checked my emails I want to open yesterday's spreadsheets, so I create a new workspace and drag the files I was working on to the new workspace - where they open. Shortly after I need a file from my USB key so I open a new workspace and drag the USB icon on to the workspace so the file manager opens. I then open the document, then - from the Overhead space - drag it to the workspace I want to use it on.

Really, there is no great difference between the old virtual desktop idea and this new one. However the way it is presented changes the emphasis and the metaphor slightly. The result is that it makes more sense.

The Shell itself is coded in "Clutter", just like Moblin. Like the Moblin menubar, the animations are smooth and finessed. It feels nice. However, it is still very new and a little buggy. I like the idea a lot and am looking forward to its further development.