DonationCoder.com Software > Unfinished Requests
IDEA: mouse location launcher
cracksloth:
the rumors are true i'm afraid... all fear me!
i do not like the idea of integrating this into f&r. i think this is one example of a feature set that doesn't really fit well within the confines of f&r. it is very much a separate tool. one of the reasons that such a tool is necessary is that people always bundle these features rather than making it a separate program.
cracksloth:
maybe it could be called "Fitt's Machine" (based on the ideas proposed by the now-famous "Fitt's Law"). if anyone is interested in good interface design, check out:
http://www.symphonyos.com/desktop.html
"Jason's Laws of Interface Design" are very true. personally, i am not as opposed to nested menus as he is (at least menus that i can customize myself) but i understand what he is trying to say (that nested menus created by others have a steeper learning curve and are more difficult to navigate in a mouse-world). anyway, not that this was officially approved as a snack, but another interesting snack that could be created to complement the "Fitt's machine" are some fullscreen menus similar to those i linked to (for computer, tasks, documents, quicklaunch, music, etc.) the user could customize a menu however he/she wanted. it would be a very great way of managing your computer. especially if you could automatically dock a program to a menu. for example, i would "attach" winamp to my music menu so that i would have access to all of my frequent playlists and the player and shortcuts to all music related tools all at once. similarly, on a "programs" menu, i would dock f&r, insert all of the shortcuts found in the quicklaunch folder, put some shortpopup links to my start menu, and a link to "add/remove programs". this sort of "task-based" computing is the future and this would be a really great method of embracing it. in retrospect, the "fitt's machine" would be a nice coding snack but the menus would probably be advanced enough to be a featured program. i've got more ideas about this but i will gauge your reaction first.
i've got more ideas than sense.
-cracksloth
mouser:
i really like your ideas of combining big giant menus with applications docked inside them.
i would like to hear more ideas..
kfitting:
I too would like to hear more. I don't quite have a full fledged idea of what you're talking about (I HAVE to be able to see something before I understand it!!) but from what I do understand, this is a powerful concept. The only major caveat I see is what happens to those of us who use 90% of our windows maximized (like myself!). Also, how would this apply to say a word processor, internet browser, or file manager (some of my most used programs). Interesting concept though... definitely worth looking into.
Kevin
cracksloth:
okay, well, the menus would actually be more like virtual desktops. so the applications would not even really need to be "docked" to the menu as much as "visible" in that specific desktop. i will assume everyone is familiar with virtual desktop tools but, if not, let me know. using virtual desktops is not absolutely necessary but it is probably the easiest way to explain the concepts and it is perhaps the easiest way to implement program "docking". basically, you would be able to specify certain programs to always be visible on a certain desktop (these "desktops" would be visually equivalent to a fullscreen menu). so you would create a desktop for music and you would have all music related programs setup to display in that desktop. similarly, you could create a desktop for documents, videos, internet browsing, file browsing, etc. programs that are not specified to be docked in a specific desktop will open in the "main" desktop (as you would expect). now, i also mentioned that there would be other fancy widgets located in these menus/desktops. one widget type would display files found in a particular location - for example, the music desktop could have 3 of these widgets:
- "C:\Documents and Settings\cracksloth\Start Menu\Programs\music\"
- "C:\Music\Playlists\"
- "C:\mp3\"
this widget would also be useful for displaying items in internet favorites, recent documents, recycle bin, or even shutdown options like: shutdown, hibernate, standby, logout, lock screen, etc.
there could also be a widget for displaying open tasks (grouped by desktop). clicking on a task would switch to that desktop.
another widget could display a clock.
another widget would display all of the drives mapped on your system.
you get the idea (and i am sure others will have some great ideas as well). you could quickly access these desktops using "Fitt's Machine" just by slamming your mouse into the corner of the screen, by clicking in a corner or side, or by pressing a hotkey. you would have a unique environment tailored specifically to each kind of computer task that you do. it also cleans up the clutter of having a lot of programs open at one time. like i mentioned before, i think task oriented computing is the future of interface design and this would be a really great way of pooling common resources together without having to redesign Windows.
there are many ways to address task switching (maybe we can all state our preference and why we think it is best):
- when selecting a window in the taskbar, the parent desktop would automatically be selected
- each desktop would have its own taskbar and the tasks docked to a virtual desktop would be hidden from the taskbar of the main desktop
- each desktop would have its own taskbar but the tasks would still be accessible from the main desktop taskbar (docked tasks are available in both the virtual desktop and the main desktop)
- each desktop would have its own alt-tab menu
- etc.
like i mentioned above, it is not necessary to think of these as desktops - visually they would appear as fullscreen menus that you can turn on or off at will. i guess it just depends on how your mind works. :) in retrospect, i think we should just call them fullscreen menus because it is easier to explain (but in the background they behave like virtual desktops). i hope i didn't confuse anyone with the talk of "main desktop" and "virtual desktop". to recap, the main desktop is what we see everyday. the virtual desktops are the other "menus" that we add that have widgets and docked programs.
@kfitting:
what happens to those of us who use 90% of our windows maximized (like myself!)
--- End quote ---
well, the maximized windows that you don't dock to a desktop/menu would remain as normal in the main desktop. if you docked a window to a desktop, you could still maximize/move/resize the window. no change. it is just the underlying desktop that is tailored to a specific task and you could also dock those windows that are related to that task so that they are quickly available.
i am not sure if this description is adequate but if anyone has any concerns, let me know.
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