User Feedback :: Teenagers

Didn't like icewm, mainly because the menu selection didn't follow the mouse - had to manually click on everything to open each tree of the menu. Unless it wasn't set up properly? But I've tried several downloads of it in the past 6months or so, each with the same result...

I really love fluxbox, but I think the addition of a "start" button to the toolbar would be a great asset, as when you have apps maximised, especially in fluxbox0.9.10 where you no longer have tabs, you don't have any desktop to right-click to get the menu. I have the toolbar and slit on autohide and top layer, so they pop up over the top of anything you have maximised, so a place to click on either of them to bring up the menu would make everything much nicer, and make the "transition" from windoze a little easier...

I guess it (ease of use) depends on whether the user is just going to use apps, or start looking at the file system. But if they're fairly low on computer knowledge anyway, then they will just want to use the apps, in which case half of the people wouldn't even know that they weren't using some new form of windoze.

What I plan to do in a future remaster is to utilize wmdrawer in the slit with autohide. Now you have a "start" button but it only shows when you want it. Even put it in the left corner.

Chris

I like Flux/Black/Bluebox exactly the way they are.

After you get used to the idea, it's annoying not having everything just a right-click away.

Quote

I think the addition of a "start" button to the toolbar would be a great asset, as when you have apps maximised, especially in fluxbox0.9.10 where you no longer have tabs, you don't have any desktop to right-click to get the menu.

I hate the start button...waste of space in my opinion.
If you have no place on the root window to click, try mapping a key combo to RootMenu, for example "Mod1 M :RootMenu". Then you just need to hit Alt+M to bring it up.
Another option is to shade your window for a second while accessing the menu.
In version 0.9.11 there is also the option to customize the window menu (the menu you get when you right-click on a titlebar), where you can add whatever apps you want and have a special menu available from a maximized window.
Whatever the method, anything is better than adding a start button.

Tabs in 0.9.10 are embedded into the titlebar, which I thought was a very smart move...I always thought they were ugly and bulky. They don't come into play unless you have grouped windows.

Quote (RoGuE_StreaK @ Dec. 16 2004,19:51)

I've used IceWM for many a year and the config option for having the menu highlight follow the mouse is:

# Menus track mouse even with no mouse buttons held
MenuMouseTracking=1 # 0 / 1

This is from my ~/.icewm/preferences file, BTW.

I do like that IceWM uses many of the hot-keys that Windows uses (since I work in a Windows shop) it makes it easy for me to use the keyboard to navigate at work and at home with keyboard. For example, Ctl-Esc brings up the programs menu and Alt-Tab switches between running apps.

I'm kind of late to the live CDs and found DSL about six weeks ago and have 0.8.4 and now 0.9.1 is out already. Guess I'll have to do download tonight! I see there is an IceWM extension available so I may have to give it a try.

Keep up the good work.

- Nate >>

Next Page...
original here.