[haiku-development] Re: Yet another Task for GSoC: HUD
- From: Ryan Leavengood <leavengood@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:33:07 -0500
On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 11:09 AM, kirilla@xxxxxxxxxx <jonas@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I'm of the opinion that Haiku needs a redesign, even though I'm not clear
> on what should change. (Could be just me, and everyone else is happy.)
I'm very on the fence on this issue. Using Haiku as it is now gives me
that warm, fuzzy, BeOS-nostalgia feeling, but I also feel like the
look could be updated. The more I use other systems and see them
updated and improved, the more I notice Haiku looking out-dated.
On that note, I think there are two kinds of UI changes to consider:
purely visual changes, and user interaction/usability changes. I think
the latter tend to be more difficult and far reaching, and have a
bigger impact on the user.
Despite our goal to replicate BeOS R5 for Haiku R1, I think visual
updates could be done and I think might even be necessary. As we all
know it is taking a while for us to produce the R1 release. The longer
it takes the more dated Haiku will look. I know Haiku is definitely
updated compared to BeOS, and I too have complained about the people
who just say "Haiku looks old" from just looking at screenshots. But
the world is always moving and changing and people are getting used
to slick, nicely designed applications on their phones and tablets.
Like it or not, Haiku looking "slick" will help build interest.
> A redesign would strain user (and dev) acceptance. One would need
> a roadmap, and avoid adding UI features that don't fit the end goal.
This is definitely true. Unfortunately in a project like Haiku without
hard leadership like Shuttleworth, user interaction proposals and
ideas might be mired in Bike Shed land forever.
On the topic of the Ubuntu HUD, it reminds me very much of Enso (which
he does at least acknowledge in the blog post):
http://humanized.com/enso/
I always thought Enso was neat, though it also reminds very much of
Quicksilver or GnomeDo or pick-your-app-launcher-with-plugins
software. Adding in the menu items is a nice evolutionary step, but
not quite as revolutionary as Shuttleworth makes it out to be.
Nonetheless it is a neat idea, and for a while I've thought having
something Enso-like on Haiku would be nice.
--
Regards,
Ryan
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