Journal timothy's Journal: Odd how wobbly windows have grown on me 2
(Could have put this under X, I guess -- wobbly windows aren't yet a feature available to Windows or Mac OS X users, are they?)
When I first saw the wobbly windows that were being shown off as X "eye candy," (perhaps when I read this story: http://tinyurl.com/ygcepfp) I had the same reaction that a lot of people still do: "Neat -- but, eh, what's the point?"*
Once it became part of mainstream distribution's options, I would sometimes turn on the "funny" effects, though -- it's fun to play w/ some of that eye candy, after all. Then I started selecting it by default when I set up a new system or upgraded. Some people said (paraphrasing -- nearly quoting one slashdot reader's comment) that the point of the wobbly windows wasn't to improve usability, but to show off what X was capable of.
At first I agreed with that. Now, after a few years of a wobbly-windows desktop environment, I've changed my mind about the wobbliness: rather than eye candy, now I think they make the desktop more intuitive to use, by making the objects on screen move more like physical objects. I realize that paper doesn't dramatically deform and wiggle if you move a sheet of it around your desk, but there's something about the movement of your arm that the instant stopping and starting of typical on-screen objects doesn't match well; making onscreen objects (windows, that is) "absorb" some of the starting energy and then release it when the mouse-motion ends somehow makes moving them around much more natural. It's not a *perfect* translation from brain to mouse to screen, but then, I doubt it ever will be.
* Meaning no disrespect, that's still how I feel about most of CompizFusion effects, which are awesome, and (IMO) useless, except in the non-useless act of making the desktop more fun to use.
cube (Score:1)
I think it's the same way with arranging virtual desktops into a cube (or in my case, sphere). When it first came around, it seemed pointless to animate switching virtual desktops, as it would only cause a slight delay before you get presented with the next desktop, but now it seems critical because it helps put everything in a "spatial arrangement" that makes it easier to remember what windows are where.
Re: (Score:1)
Yep! There's something about the physicality (even faux physicality) that makes it easier to remember where is what. It's also one of the coolest / quickest demos to show that the crazy free-software hippies actually have created a system with some real visual appeal.