6 ms·

That's a lot of good points. But why not just auto-hide the topbar? Full functionality + Full space saving.

drblast 16y ago
That's what I end up doing. It works, but with most apps having tabs on the top of the window (Chrome in particular), I end up fighting the hidden taskbar when switching tabs or moving windows. Plus, I like to have a clock visible on the screen somewhere. These are such a minor complaints that they seem stupid, but on a netbook it's a huge annoyance, especially when Windows has solved it perfectly fine since Windows 98 or so. I guess my point is that if you're going to copy the Windows 95/98/XP interface, don't change the things that are obvious wins. I've been using Linux since 1997, and I'm tired of working around obvious flaws in the interface. I used to spend hours customizing my window manager so that everything was ridiculously efficient (and making Fvwm and Enlightenment themes); now I just want a sane default. When the first thing that happens when I move the top task bar to the right side is that there is no longer room for the notification area and half of the icons get cut off, and no way to fix this, it reeks of amateurism that should have been expunged years ago.
- grobolom 16y ago
  Thinking again, I totally understand you plight. I've got the same problem on my netbook - having an easy-access calendar/time/mail indicator is much better than having to mouse over every time. My current solution (well, technically future - I have to remove this stupid Unity off my netbook - it does me more harm than good) is to pull the taskbar to the bottom and hide it. Sure, no clock, which sucks, but I guess I usually have my phone around for that. It beats the hell out of having the damn thing pop up whenever you want to open a new chrome tab, but it's not a perfect solution. I think that Unity is going the way of the Apple philosophy - screw customization, because for the 99% of users it only leads to indecision and unhappiness. Make some basic adjustments available as 'apps', but leave the core functionality untouchable. I wish I was a fan of that - sadly, I'm not. I understand the reasons behind it, and I totally support it. But I need something more - something that is customizable but intuitive, which is exactly why I chose Ubuntu in the first place. I hope it doesn't keep going in this direction.

That's what I end up doing. It works, but with most apps having tabs on the top of the window (Chrome in particular), I end up fighting the hidden taskbar when switching tabs or moving windows. Plus, I like to have a clock visible on the screen somewhere. These are such a minor complaints that they seem stupid, but on a netbook it's a huge annoyance, especially when Windows has solved it perfectly fine since Windows 98 or so. I guess my point is that if you're going to copy the Windows 95/98/XP interface, don't change the things that are obvious wins. I've been using Linux since 1997, and I'm tired of working around obvious flaws in the interface. I used to spend hours customizing my window manager so that everything was ridiculously efficient (and making Fvwm and Enlightenment themes); now I just want a sane default. When the first thing that happens when I move the top task bar to the right side is that there is no longer room for the notification area and half of the icons get cut off, and no way to fix this, it reeks of amateurism that should have been expunged years ago.

grobolom 16y ago
Thinking again, I totally understand you plight. I've got the same problem on my netbook - having an easy-access calendar/time/mail indicator is much better than having to mouse over every time. My current solution (well, technically future - I have to remove this stupid Unity off my netbook - it does me more harm than good) is to pull the taskbar to the bottom and hide it. Sure, no clock, which sucks, but I guess I usually have my phone around for that. It beats the hell out of having the damn thing pop up whenever you want to open a new chrome tab, but it's not a perfect solution. I think that Unity is going the way of the Apple philosophy - screw customization, because for the 99% of users it only leads to indecision and unhappiness. Make some basic adjustments available as 'apps', but leave the core functionality untouchable. I wish I was a fan of that - sadly, I'm not. I understand the reasons behind it, and I totally support it. But I need something more - something that is customizable but intuitive, which is exactly why I chose Ubuntu in the first place. I hope it doesn't keep going in this direction.