[openbeos] Re: app_server

>Hello peeps
>
>Warning: I'm not a programmer, just a lurker but...
>
>When the app_server is finished and becomes a good replacement for the 
>stock one, will it be easy to add new decors? I'm assuming you'd still 
>need programming knowledge of course - not just graphical skills, so I 
>might not be able to do it myself but hopefully it would be doable.

Even the prototype has a decor plug-in system, so I'm sure the finished 
full version will.  Currently it does require some programming skill, 
but I imagine it could be made simpler if there was a need for that.  
Personally I'm not sure if having 100s of different decors is all that 
great.  Lately I've come to believe that interface consistancy is 
important, and that Be really excels at this.  I don't think we need to 
make OBOS just a Linux interface clone, with its 20 different window 
managers, 1000s of decors and themes, etc.  Sometimes too much choice 
can be a bad thing :)  

>Taking this a bit further - maybe the whole window design could be 
>changed rather than just the border. Maybe this is not possible. Maybe 
>more than just a new app_server would be required but I wouldn't know, 
>I'm not a programmer.

I think almost anything is *possible*, the real question is whether it 
is *worthwhile*.  Again I'm not sure we need to recreate the X11 
scenario of having a large number of window managers, all of which 
behave and look differently, which is what it sounds like you are 
suggesting.  What I think would be nice would be basic improvements on 
the app_server's windowing architecture, like non-rectangular windows, 
better acceleration, etc.

>If it *is* possible then my nipples would get a 
>bit hard because it means we could possibly have a spruced-up 
interface 
>even before OB is finished. I'm not talking about change for the sake 
of 
>change but BeOS is visually a wee bit dated now.

Even being 2+ years old I don't think the BeOS interface is dated at 
all.  Just because it isn't covered with candy looking GUI elements 
like OSX and WinXP are doesn't mean that it is dated.  The other OSes 
have gone overboard a bit I think (though at first I liked them.)  This 
is especially true considering how much all this eye candy slows them 
both down.

Ryan Leavengood
OpenBeOS Preferences Team

Other related posts: