Linux Mint Redesigns GNOME 3

I may get my partly-fried desktop back in a while, so I may be aggressively trying out lightweight distributions again in the near future.

Meanwhile, on an off-topic note, I really admire what the Linux Mint team plans to do with GNOME 3 in Linux Mint 12. Here's a screenshot of their GNOME 3 design, posted on The Linux Mint Blog:

GNOME 3 with MGSE in Linux Mint 12

The major innovation is the introduction of Mint GNOME Shell Extensions (MGSE), a series of desktop add-ons that can be enabled or disabled to suit the user's comfort level with standard GNOME 3. With all MGSE features enabled, Mint 12 looks like the kind of GNOME 3 desktop I can live with. My single biggest complaint about GNOME 3 when I recently tried it in Sabayon 7 was the lack of a window list. It was really annoying to have to click the Activities button in the top left corner to switch between open windows. If you can create desktop or panel shortcuts in the MGSE-modified desktop, I may really enjoy Linux Mint 12.

My only real problem with GNOME 3/MGSE is the two-panel configuration that I used to always eliminate in GNOME 2 whenever a distro used it. Vertical space is at a premium on my laptop.

Though I've been using Linux Mint Debian Edition on the laptop for a while, I may have to check out the Linux Mint 12 main edition when it comes out.

The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Linux Mint 12 Preview:

'via Blog this'

Taking User-Friendliness Lessons From Microsoft

When I first heard about the new graphic interface for Windows 8, I thought Microsoft was making the same mistake  the Ubuntu and GNOME developers have recently made: putting a touchscreen interface on an OS that will also run on non-touchscreen devices. However, according to Jeff Hoogland, it looks like Microsoft is at least making it easy to go back to a standard desktop interface.

Thoughts on Technology: Something Gnome3 and Unity Could Stand to Learn From Windows 8

I never thought I'd see the day when Linux desktops are being schooled on usability by Microsoft.

The Shot Heard Round the World

Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, has switched from GNOME to Xfce following the release of GNOME 3. At first glance, this looks like a major endorsement for Xfce. However, I'm not sure how much effect this will have on everyday Linux users, since Torvalds's reasons for leaving GNOME are pretty geeky:

Here's an example of "the crazy": you want a new terminal window. So you go to "activities" and press the "terminal" thing that you've made part of your normal desktop thing (but why can't I just have it on the desktop, instead of in that insane "activities" mode?). What happens? Nothing. It brings your existing terminal to the forefront.

That's just crazy crap. Now I need to use Shift-Control-N in an old terminal to bring up a new one. Yeah, that's a real user experience improvement. Sure.

Linus Torvalds Ditches GNOME For Xfce