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plb
March 19th, 2007, 07:10 PM
I'm not liking the mock ups at all. The current one looks much better imho, what do you think?

http://dot.kde.org/1173761811/

MontanaMax
March 19th, 2007, 07:23 PM
I'm not sure if I would like the "discover your music" pane to be the middle focus all the time - if it's an option and I could have my choice of playlist of other pane to be configurable as the middle focus I would be a happy camper.

raublekick
March 19th, 2007, 07:31 PM
ugh, yeah, that's bad. i don't understand why some players overshadow the playlist with other features, or place it in a bad area.

the three most important parts of any player are (in no particular order because they are so close with each other):
1. The controls
2. The playlist
3. The collection

You can't manipulate a playlist without controls, and you don't need controls without a playlist. You can't make a good playlist without a collection or file browser.

Why put a BIG context area between the collection and the playlist? Why force the user to drag files from one side of the player to the other? The context stuff should be in addition to the necessary compenents of a player, not the main focus. This is why I don't particularly like Listen, and now it looks like I won't like Amarok 2.

Exail and Banshee are my favorite players right now. Exaile just wins because it handles files and collections, but I have a newfound love for the simplicity of the Banshee (iTunes) style interface. No BS, just what is needed.

mykalreborn
March 19th, 2007, 07:36 PM
i dunno... too busy... the old one was better, although IMHO it was too loaded also. but that's kde i guess... ;)

SishGupta
March 19th, 2007, 08:09 PM
i dunno... too busy... the old one was better, although IMHO it was too loaded also. but that's kde i guess... ;)

In a nutshell!

Bigbluecat
March 19th, 2007, 08:20 PM
Agreed that the context window seems to be in the wrong place. Put it to one side so that it is easier to manage playlists and collections.

The ability to hide or show it would be useful. So if you are creating playlists it can simply not be there. If you are just playing and want the context view then ask for it to be shown.

tbroderick
March 19th, 2007, 09:02 PM
Why put a BIG context area between the collection and the playlist? Why force the user to drag files from one side of the player to the other?

If it still has the same basic functions of the current Amarok version, then you don't have to drag songs/albums to the playlist. You can just double left click on the song/album to add to the playlist.

karellen
March 19th, 2007, 09:13 PM
I use only xmms for playing music and it's enough for my needs :)

FuturePilot
March 19th, 2007, 09:13 PM
I love Amarok, but that looks pretty bad. That middle section looks way out of place.

darkhatter
March 19th, 2007, 09:36 PM
I doubt the final will look anything like that, I don't like the design but I don't hate it. When are they going to come out with a windows alpha I can't wait any longer

Lord Illidan
March 19th, 2007, 09:38 PM
Not too bad, imho. I am sure that they will make the panels moveable.

luca.b
March 19th, 2007, 10:03 PM
Just remember that the current look (minus mocked-up parts) is just the result of one month of work. As the release is months away, something is bound to change.

Bloodfen Razormaw
March 20th, 2007, 01:22 AM
The specifics of the mockups aren't relevant as the actual look is going to be different, but the very concept behind them are definitely flawed. What makes Amarok clearly superior to every other player out there is that it 1) is the only player that competently handles libraries and 2) is the only library-based player, good or bad, that competently handles playlists. Deemphasizing the playlist in favor of the context information is a bad move. The context information certainly is yet another way Amarok sets itself apart from other players, but being able to handle libraries correctly and make ad hoc playlists quickly and easily is the main reason.

maniacmusician
March 20th, 2007, 01:53 AM
The specifics of the mockups aren't relevant as the actual look is going to be different, but the very concept behind them are definitely flawed. What makes Amarok clearly superior to every other player out there is that it 1) is the only player that competently handles libraries and 2) is the only library-based player, good or bad, that competently handles playlists. Deemphasizing the playlist in favor of the context information is a bad move. The context information certainly is yet another way Amarok sets itself apart from other players, but being able to handle libraries correctly and make ad hoc playlists quickly and easily is the main reason.
I'm pretty sure that they've stated that the old interface will be an option for those who feel more comfortable in it.

Quillz
March 20th, 2007, 02:13 AM
I think it looks pretty good. And it can run on the Mac now? Interesting...

daynah
March 20th, 2007, 02:52 AM
It's that middle panel. But I'm sure they'll fiddle it so it's nice and pretty, they've done well so far. Only compaints is that, like was said before, it's bloated. But what can you say, they're KDE lovers. ;)

I'm sure they're working very hard now that attention is on Songbird.

On a random note, that thing that all players have that has the little pips that go up and down according to what music is being played? What is it FOR? I mean, what purpose does it serve the average music listener? This is something I have wondered for years, but been too afraid to ask.

bionnaki
March 20th, 2007, 03:51 AM
pips?

daynah
March 20th, 2007, 04:15 AM
If I knew what it was called, I'd be able to google it... It's like a graph that goes up and down. The left hand part of the graph gets taller when lower notes are playing (I think) and the right side gets taller when higher notes are playing.

maniacmusician
March 20th, 2007, 04:22 AM
they're visualizations. Just for entertainment. It's fun to see things move to music.

Bigbluecat
March 20th, 2007, 09:28 PM
You can get this in Amarok today with the mini player view.

Other visualizations - the swirly hipnotic kind are also there with one of the plug ins.

ihatethedekoys
March 20th, 2007, 10:00 PM
The context browser should just be a tab, like it is now. There is no reason why it needs to be viewable while browsing through your library, only while playing a song, so you would hardly have a use for having both open at the same time ... so why not just keep it a tab?

I think the interface is pretty much perfect as it is, just needs some tweaking, not a complete redesign.

go_beep_yourself
October 28th, 2008, 12:53 AM
Has anybody got the beta Amarok 2 working in Ubuntu? I found a link to the source, but KDE4 apps are terribly complicated to compile. Anybody know of some good working debs? If not, I may just take another shot at compiling it. I'm going to have nightmares when I see all the build dependencies required to build it. I wish I could compile it with the standard ./configure make make install procedure.

bailout
October 28th, 2008, 01:46 AM
http://www.kubuntu.org/amarok2-beta2

-grubby
October 28th, 2008, 02:11 AM
Has anybody got the beta Amarok 2 working in Ubuntu? I found a link to the source, but KDE4 apps are terribly complicated to compile. Anybody know of some good working debs? If not, I may just take another shot at compiling it. I'm going to have nightmares when I see all the build dependencies required to build it. I wish I could compile it with the standard ./configure make make install procedure.

Please do not bump old (older than a year, at least) threads, start new ones.

Rocket2DMn
October 28th, 2008, 02:52 AM
Closed for necromancing - please start a new thread in a support forum if you need help. Thank you.