Symphony - Shell evolved

[Reason NL]

Been busy lately, so haven't had much time drawing a lot. I did however added a screen showing the display state and what is should be exposing.

I also made a Google+ page for this project. You can subscribe (follow) this page and be able to comment on specific updates and keep this forum open for general discussion.

I will be posting updates on there as well.

Seems a never ending story. Even though I really like spending time on this project all other daily activities have kept me pretty much occupied.

I've decided to keep this thread from presenting new additions or changes and keep it for what it does best. Opening up discussions and talk about possibilities.

So as this last post about updates to this project, I changed and expanded my goals a bit and started to think about building a new ecosystem. Pretty ambitious but hey, all big things have small beginnings.

Still, for now I updated the site and will be posting updates on the affiliated Google+ page and stop harassing this thread for that purpose. So if you want to be kept informed please follow the project on Google+.
I will attempt to create an RSS feed for those who don't want to be part of Google's social network (Will be posting about that on here when it's available).

This thread will remain open for everything else of course, so please don't stop answering my previous inquiries or criticize the ongoing process.

[renearts]

Hey, saw your comment at tweakers.net (yes I'm a fellow Dutchie and tweaker), I really like your ideas about a better shell/DE. I've been fiddling myself with Gnome Shell and Unity and my current desktop looks like this:



It's Gnome Shell 3.4 with the Unity-2d launcher, Dash and even the HUD is working. Currently the best config for me. But there's room for improvement which triggers my interest for your ideas.


My thoughts/complaints/good things about Gnome Shell and Unity:

first of all:
- I absolutely L-O-V-E the dynamic workspace management from GS, specifically with the Desktop Scrolling extension.

- I like both the Unity and GS panel. Both are configurable, feature indicators/extensions. I like the Evolution/Calendar integration in GS panel. Preferred location for panel: top. I like your idea very much as well. Does what it should do and provides necessary and essential information. Also the notification center looks great!

- I like the Unity Dash a little better than the GS overview: Dash seems a little more intelligent with the lenses and less disturbing my view. Though both can be used quite efficiently (hit Super and start typing to search). I also like the Win7 menu, which effectively does the same. I think this (press Super and start typing) is a key feature for an efficient workflow.

- I like Unity's Global Menu; in general the idea of a global menu. But not Gnome-shell style (too many clicks to get where you want to be). I also (as in a reduntant, keyboard-only way) really like the (idea behind) Unity HUD, but it isn't quite mature yet. Biggest annoyance: the naming is inconsistent so it takes too many tries to find what i want. Example: I want to change some settings; randomly start guessing if it should be options, settings or preferences (and if you also have translated programs: opties/instellingen/voorkeuren). So you might need to search for 6(!) different keywords.
Suggestion: let it display the currently accessed menu structure and all avaliable options. So when you type 'Edit ' it shows all available items in the Edit menu. Or a combination with the (normally hidden) global menu can be made. But most important of all: consistency!

- I like the Unity launcher/bar, especially the full (non 2d) version. Nice look and feel, location on left edge is fine to me. Icons are large enough and size is configurable. I liked the intellihide mode... Other launchers can be fine too (i.e. Docky)
I dislike the Gnome Shell launch/favorites bar (and extension to get it on the desktop): with a lot of applications opened the icons get way too small. Also not too much animation/information from the icons, which other launchers do.

I think your notification center and top panel look very nice: the concept is very appealing IMHO. I also like your philosophy of separating workspace and application management.

So far my two cents, probably I'll be thinking about this the next days so maybe some additions might follow

[Reason NL]

Hey, saw your comment at tweakers.net (yes I'm a fellow Dutchie and tweaker), I really like your ideas about a better shell/DE. I've been fiddling myself with Gnome Shell and Unity and my current desktop looks like this:

I couldn't resist using the Ubuntu news item to get some exposure for this project, especially since Canonical is focusing to much on making the Dash cluttered with stuff we don't want giving this project more incentive of being realized.

Instead of playing with existing components I decided to draw everything from scratch to be able to focus on what I (and all those willing to participate) want in an user interface instead of being handicapped by what is currently being offered from a technical perspective.

This being sad, thanks for you willingness in sharing your experiences, useful inside and uplifting comments.

I absolutely L-O-V-E the dynamic workspace management from GS, specifically with the Desktop Scrolling extension.

- I like both the Unity and GS panel. Both are configurable, feature indicators/extensions. I like the Evolution/Calendar integration in GS panel. Preferred location for panel: top. I like your idea very much as well. Does what it should do and provides necessary and essential information. Also the notification center looks great!

- I like the Unity Dash a little better than the GS overview: Dash seems a little more intelligent with the lenses and less disturbing my view. Though both can be used quite efficiently (hit Super and start typing to search). I also like the Win7 menu, which effectively does the same. I think this (press Super and start typing) is a key feature for an efficient workflow.

- I like Unity's Global Menu; in general the idea of a global menu. But not Gnome-shell style (too many clicks to get where you want to be). I also (as in a reduntant, keyboard-only way) really like the (idea behind) Unity HUD, but it isn't quite mature yet. Biggest annoyance: the naming is inconsistent so it takes too many tries to find what i want. Example: I want to change some settings; randomly start guessing if it should be options, settings or preferences (and if you also have translated programs: opties/instellingen/voorkeuren). So you might need to search for 6(!) different keywords.
Suggestion: let it display the currently accessed menu structure and all avaliable options. So when you type 'Edit ' it shows all available items in the Edit menu. Or a combination with the (normally hidden) global menu can be made. But most important of all: consistency!

- I like the Unity launcher/bar, especially the full (non 2d) version. Nice look and feel, location on left edge is fine to me. Icons are large enough and size is configurable. I liked the intellihide mode... Other launchers can be fine too (i.e. Docky)
I dislike the Gnome Shell launch/favorites bar (and extension to get it on the desktop): with a lot of applications opened the icons get way too small. Also not too much animation/information from the icons, which other launchers do.

As mentioned on it's website I'm currently focusing on the State of the computer, I'm still figuring out what should be there and even more so also what shouldn't!
I'm thinking about adding a security section where you will be able to view and configure what all running applications are (capable of) doing.
Think about accessing the Internet, certain file locations or devices. A bit like the permissions Android uses but with the ability to change them at runtime.

I strongly believe this should not be a location for hidden running applications or even a way to start ones (Ubuntu sound menu) we have the launcher for exactly that purpose, being able to hide applications from the launcher even if they are running is a different goal altogether and I'm convinced dedicating different concepts for the same purpose is counter intuitive.
I opt for showing all running applications within the launcher in the overlay.
So if consistency is what you want you'll definitely get it! Even if it will be consistently bad..

Even thought the Unity HUD has some great potential, the current implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
I personally hate the global menu, it places functionality from a specific bordered object in a completely different position. Not intuitive at all! In Unity they even manage to hide it upfront leaving user confused on how to get to these options since there no where to be found. Couldn't be any worse.. :S I think the menu should be part of the window, maybe in a way Firefox does it with 1 button (A fourth button?).
The fact you have to type search to find options is cumbersome indeed, I will take you suggestion in consideration. Come to think about it, why shouldn't it just expose the menu as is as you type along?

The super key type combo will definitely stay!
Still questioning whether to create a small dash like shell just for when you hit the super button once to type stuff to be able to start applications and find stuff besides the overlay, for example hitting the super button twice and clicking the launcher overlay button will get you to the overlay.
Although I kinda like the idea, it adds another abstraction which will make it more complicated to use for basic computer users.
Still considering options about this any ideas are welcome!

Your screen looks cool by the way, nice Icon pack a bit too Unity though.

My current vision for the launcher and workspace management is a marriage between Unity and Gnome Shell. I completely share you view on the flexible workspaces. As you may have picked up already from my previous posts, I'm even convinced another Monitor should be a just another inside for one those workspaces. If you think about it, this would make sharing workspaces with different devices extremely easy!
Of course dragging applications on another device is a different matter, very difficult to manage, but It would be freaking awesome!

Current ideas about the launcher:

- Shares a similar look to the Unity / Win7 launcher.
- Should always be visible (unless it's configure to hide or dodge) without having to enter an overlay (Not the Gnome Shell way)
- Should facilitate in being able to open different windows from the same program with 1 click.
- Should facilitate a way to change to all currently available (even network attached) workspaces on all attached monitor (Every monitor / workspace has it's own launcher showing only processes on that workspace).

Current ideas about the overlay:

- Shares the basic concepts from Gnome Shell.
- Application section gets an overhaul and should facilitate in something like the lenses in Unity, I thought about naming them Venues, any other ideas are welcome.
- There should be 3 default venues: Software center, Applications and Places
All should have some sort of categorizing, not a giant scroll pane!
- The launcher in the overlay should show all running applications (The ones on the current workspace should be marked differently) on the current device and should show an overview of all windows on the current workspace like Gnome Shell does (I also like dragging new applications to new and existing workspaces a lot).

Current ideas about windows management:

- Windows should control there own tabs (Not the applications) making it possible to run multiple instances of one program without the application even knowing about it.
This would also open up the ability to show all tabs in the overlay as different windows.
- Windows should manage full screen (Not the applications) leaving the user the ability to close them if the applications stops reacting. Still need to think about controls though.
- There should be an option to fix windows maximized (or next to each other) for small devices like tablets and phones.

These are currently some basic ideas I've been thinking about.

I've added some very basic concept images showing my ideas about the launcher and overlay on 2 monitors side by side.
Unfortunately this forum has resized them to 1024px width so it's hard to read, but it still shows what I mean.

Thanks again Rene for your reply! Stay around... I've heard dutch people are very capable of designing stuff.