GNOME Shell
I'm really trying to be patient with GNOME 3. I remember when I switched from Enlightenment, but I just keep running into really annoying issues.
Issue 1: Multi-monitor support isn't working right at all. (Bugzilla 695737)
I have a LCD monitor mounted on a stand above my desk at work that is connected to a docking station. I put my Thinkpad T500 into the docking station and use it in combination with the LCD monitors in a vertical configuration. GNOME 3 sees the extra monitor, positions it properly, but won't let me open windows there or drag existing windows to it. :/
Issue 2: "Applications" noticeably grinds on my disk for several seconds before showing me a list
To be fair, I think I know why this happens:
A) I have a lot of programs installed.
B) It has to open all of their icons and cache them.
I just happen to think that the workflow model there is pretty poor, and the fact that this is slow on first load is a byproduct of that. Perhaps it should have a more reasonable default? Maybe only cache the first screen's worth of icons? Maybe pre-cache the icons on boot? Maybe put placeholders until the icons can be loaded, so I'm not sitting without any indicator of why there is a ten second delay?
Issue 3: Lack of minimize
I'm sure this makes great UI and I'm just too dumb to understand it, but my screen gets very cluttered, very quickly. Why not leave a minimize button in the title bar for each window? After all, I can still right click the title bar and minimize things, but I only discovered that by accident. (I suspect once I point that out in public, the right click minimize option will disappear too.)
Issue 4: NetworkManager
Oh, NetworkManager, I still love your autoconfiguration magic, but what have they done to your applet? I loved how I could right click you and quickly get to the configuration status, a GUI "ifconfig". Now I have to go into "Network Settings" and iterate through each possible connection. Also, I can't figure out how to turn off a specific connection, it seems that unless I go into the "Network Settings" options screen, I can't just disconnect a wireless connection without disabling wireless altogether. Oh, and when I USB tether my Nexus One, it shows up as an unlabeled "wired" connection.
Issue 5: Lack of clock customization
It took me several minutes of Google searching to discover how to adjust the date so I could see the day of the week along with the month, numeric day, and full time. I still can't figure out how to get it to show me the year, or the time in other locales (I work with international folks, and the support for other clocks at a click was very very helpful)
Issue 6: Lack of weather
Where did the weather go? I can't even figure out how to add it.
Issue 7: Lack of sane theming
Editing an XML file to change colors is not sane theming support. I cede that perhaps this is an area that will grow a nice GUI in the future, but ugh. Yes, it could be worse, but it could be a lot better. At a minimum, comments in the XML file would be very nice, as right now, my attempts at improving the theming are pretty hackish.
GNOME, I'm trying to be patient with you. We've been pals for a long time now, and I'm not giving up on you yet, but you sure are trying my patience.
Issue 1: Multi-monitor support isn't working right at all. (Bugzilla 695737)
I have a LCD monitor mounted on a stand above my desk at work that is connected to a docking station. I put my Thinkpad T500 into the docking station and use it in combination with the LCD monitors in a vertical configuration. GNOME 3 sees the extra monitor, positions it properly, but won't let me open windows there or drag existing windows to it. :/
Issue 2: "Applications" noticeably grinds on my disk for several seconds before showing me a list
To be fair, I think I know why this happens:
A) I have a lot of programs installed.
B) It has to open all of their icons and cache them.
I just happen to think that the workflow model there is pretty poor, and the fact that this is slow on first load is a byproduct of that. Perhaps it should have a more reasonable default? Maybe only cache the first screen's worth of icons? Maybe pre-cache the icons on boot? Maybe put placeholders until the icons can be loaded, so I'm not sitting without any indicator of why there is a ten second delay?
Issue 3: Lack of minimize
I'm sure this makes great UI and I'm just too dumb to understand it, but my screen gets very cluttered, very quickly. Why not leave a minimize button in the title bar for each window? After all, I can still right click the title bar and minimize things, but I only discovered that by accident. (I suspect once I point that out in public, the right click minimize option will disappear too.)
Issue 4: NetworkManager
Oh, NetworkManager, I still love your autoconfiguration magic, but what have they done to your applet? I loved how I could right click you and quickly get to the configuration status, a GUI "ifconfig". Now I have to go into "Network Settings" and iterate through each possible connection. Also, I can't figure out how to turn off a specific connection, it seems that unless I go into the "Network Settings" options screen, I can't just disconnect a wireless connection without disabling wireless altogether. Oh, and when I USB tether my Nexus One, it shows up as an unlabeled "wired" connection.
Issue 5: Lack of clock customization
It took me several minutes of Google searching to discover how to adjust the date so I could see the day of the week along with the month, numeric day, and full time. I still can't figure out how to get it to show me the year, or the time in other locales (I work with international folks, and the support for other clocks at a click was very very helpful)
Issue 6: Lack of weather
Where did the weather go? I can't even figure out how to add it.
Issue 7: Lack of sane theming
Editing an XML file to change colors is not sane theming support. I cede that perhaps this is an area that will grow a nice GUI in the future, but ugh. Yes, it could be worse, but it could be a lot better. At a minimum, comments in the XML file would be very nice, as right now, my attempts at improving the theming are pretty hackish.
GNOME, I'm trying to be patient with you. We've been pals for a long time now, and I'm not giving up on you yet, but you sure are trying my patience.