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- rotarychainsaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17The thing I like is it uses about half the ram of 2.14. yay!
- barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13your missing the point, alt+f6 is switching for one application with multiple windows alt+tab is for switching multiple applications
- drag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12What we have with this release is performance improvements and fixing bugs. Making things that have been introduced with previous releases work better. Getting Gstreamer0.10 integrated and more stable. Better desktop search. Better email stuff. etc etc. And the composition engine in Metacity is a big deal. There have been dropped shadows and stuff like that, but now it's a real OpenGL compositor. Look up Luminocity for videos of the development branch of this stuff.
So of course it's going to be a bit boring.
But the BIGGEST deal by far is including C# and Mono as a supported part of the official Gnome release.This is huge..
KDE was always 'the' premeir C++ environment for Linux and Gnome was die-hard C, but now Gnome is the progressive one with high level languages and KDE is the 'die-hard' C++ people.
Or look at it another way..
Gnome Desktop will now have more high level language used on the desktop with C# and Python then Microsoft will with Vista and MS is the people that created C# in the first place!
For developers this means that it's now easy to make relatively bug-free code and applications for Gnome. As a Windows developer trained in the use of .NET and taking classes in C# this means that you can now go and develop highly sophisticated GUI applications for Gnome without actually having to know much about Linux itself.
This may not mean much right now.. but expect that in the next couple years your going to see a huge upswing in developers using and supporting Linux desktop.
Of course I, like everybody else, is looking forward to KDE 4. I hope they realy pull something off great. But don't expect it to be uber right off the bat. They are making huge changes, breaking ABI/API all over the place. It's going to be a while before it settles down and mature. - Iandefor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"Metacity is and has always been a compositing engine."
No, it's a window manager. OpenGL compositing has recently been implemented as a feature.
"Seriously, does anyone actually care about this stuff? Why arent they working on Gnome 3.0 now with xgl support built into the entire system, not just metacity and the terminal window? Moving desktop icons in gnome 2.14 is super buggy when using compiz for example."
Because XGL is a dirty, filthy hack that has currently been superseded by an AIGLX module in the latest Xorg that's actually STABLE. It's also faster and uses fewer system resources, since you don't have to run an entirely separate X server alongside X, and you don't have to restart X to load it. That's why they're not going to include xgl support, and metacity's compositing features, once they're stable, should match or exceed those of Compiz. Also, consider that metacity has *full* theming, not just the ability to put pixmaps on top of the window buttons and use a custom gradient.
In addition, they're not working on getting Topaz implemented as yet because they need to actually finish sketching out the roadmap for Topaz, not just throw around buzzwords and mildly interesting but ultimately unusable ideas about how to organize the desktop. - Kethinov, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Are you kidding? Did you miss the part where Metacity's getting compositing support?
- bigtomrodney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yeah I'm using the gnome-terminal with real transparency now. It looks and feels great. I'll look forward to this release.
- goalieca, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6There's been many many under the hood upgrades. Many many ram optimizations etc.
But it seems quite late in the game to be doing that. Gnome 2.16 is the 9th gnome release. - Hindu_Wardrobe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The whole true transparency in the Gnome-terminal is a huge turn-on for me. Just... yes!
I can get the true transparency now with Compiz, and it's awesome. Can't wait for 2.16! - p4r0l3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5yeah, I've heard gnome-terminal and other apps have also received speed boosts....will be looking forward to 2.16 :)
- aNoble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Some nice improvements coming. The SELinux stuff in nautilus will be very helpful, and the full screen screensaver preview is a nice addition too.
- Ademan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I was slightly dissapointed by the feature improvements, though deskbar looks good (i use it already). And I like the fact that it looks like you can recursively chmod and chown files (I'd been waiting for it for a while)
But what I had read is that evolution has recieved a massive startup-time upgrade, which is great.
cheers
-Dan - ibis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3On the other hand I _like_ the start menu concept. I have the 5 or 6 apps I use all the time in a launch bar, then everything else I can get to from a start menu.
- cduquette, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Wait for Gnome to do their own what's new. This one shows some features I wasn't aware of. Things look very promising. I'm liking the evolution upgrades and the new icon theme. There is also some memory useage improvements which are always nice.
- daldredge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Can you put seperate wall paper on each blasted virtual desktop yet?
- FluffyArmada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I don't know if I'm weird... but I like the idea of a central menu from which I can launch all of my applications without having to browse for them in folders or search for them; so long as the menu is designed well.
- Netwatcher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'll admit full page view of the screen saver is nice, but nicer still would have been to put back in the functionality to adjust the screen savers settings.
Workarounds, just don't cut it. - rowanjl, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5As apposed to the awful candy gloss of KDE or the default XP theme? I'd much rather dull grey to either of those.
"Also both KDE and Gnome take Window's god awful "Start" menu idea for running applications which is really annoying and needs to be scrapped. "
Why does it need to be scrapped? I much prefer it to having a row of icons on the screen somewhere, less clutter and more screen space for programs is better. - drizek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There is a reason why MS dropped .net from vista. It might be easy to write an app with it, but its not going to perform the same way a C++ app will. Beagle is a perfect example of this, it caused a lot of problems for suse because it was enabled by default. It might be a good idea for newb developers wanting to make a simple little program, but I think if youre going to be doing something that will be included as a part of a DE then you should be using a low-level programming language. Qt also isnt all just C++, you can write qt apps in python and ruby as well(and im sure it is compatible with many other languages, im not a programmer).
Either way, the future looks good for linux. :) - evolution360, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@barbobot
I know, I'm just saying a key closer to the alt (like oh ctrl or the useless windows key) would be easier to do with one hand so I don't have to take my right hand off the mouse. This is after all supposed to make things more convenient.
And please no porn jokes. - drag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ya sure. You can map whatever button or button combo you'd like to it. It's pretty flexible and easy.
For Debian Sid and Gnome 2.14 to change keybindings you go (from the menus on the panel) Destkop --> Preferences --> Keyboard shortcuts.
Pretty simple. There are a lot of different bindings that aren't used by defualt in Gnome. Stuff for moving applications from workspace to workspace and things like that. - darksheer, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8Hate to say it, but this really looks like one of the more "unremarkable" Gnome releases in a while.
As a happy Gnome and Ubuntu user though, the upgrades are always quite welcome. - SimonGray, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you're using Quinn's Compiz packages it's already available on Dapper.
Just go to Edit -> Preferences in Gnome Terminal. - sumadartson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yes, xcompmgr, whose latest version in the ubuntu repositories is from 2004! What's the problem with either XGL or AIGLX and compiz?
- WebSerpent, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Lol, yeah I know, but I'm playing with it because a buddy loves Gentoo.
I've got plenty of other machines to tool around with and I'd imagine once I'm done, I'm just going to delete it. - sumadartson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Or, get a decent file dialog, which does not involve the extra click before you can just, you know, browse folders.
Or am i missing some obscure setting in gconf here? - evolution360, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Can you map the alt-F6 app switching to alt-tab? it seems like the F6 key combo would be very inconvenient.
- slackerbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Looking pretty sweet!
I'm suprised, though. If I'm remembering correctly, Mr. Davyd Madeley is usually first with these. - Mejogid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Linux users had transparency for years, it just got a lot easier to implement. Previously, it was relatively easy with xcompmgr and before that it required lower level hacks, but it's certainly been easier to make gnome's terminal than to do the same to windows' for a while.
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -0/+299% of Linux users? One of Linux's strong points is that it's so customizable! That's one of my favorite things about Ubuntu. I'm changing the Firefox theme and Gnome Theme once I find a good background.
- JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I say use alt + ~ to switch windows for a single program. The tilde is right above the tab and can be done while keeping the other hand on the mouse (without awkwardly stretching one's hand to the F6 key while holding alt with the left thumb).
I think Apple's window manager uses that key combo. - Tiger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I was hoping for a "majorer" release.
it kind of looks like this should be 2.14.5 instead of 2.16 - bkor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2GNOME does time based releases. It has been 6 months, so it is time to 2.16. Also 2.14.x is still in 'freeze', so no big changes are allowed (eg.. changing the interface is not allowed). This to ensure stability.
Meaning: 2.16 is not decided upon the number of 'new features' or whatever. - JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4The Gnome Panel can be dragged to and placed where ever the user wishes as it has always been.
- bigtomrodney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Xcompmgr is dog slow, and pretty buggy. Either XGL or AIGLX would make more sense, as the desk will render quicker. Hopefully Xegl makes good progress and we should really see something good then.
@SimonGray, that's only if you take the update for Gnome-Terminal which is the same one as in 2.16. I run Ubuntu and I have the true transparency, but the SUSE box I run hasn't got that patch yet. - TA_Superman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'm a moderate linux user (amarok, c++ development and such) and i for one can say i don't miss the days of compiling apps for 1/2 an hour. Binary packages are just so much more convenient with all these frequent updates. I really don't care to spend 20-30 mins compiling apps everytime a small update occurs.
- captjc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am glad I am not the only one who is still pissed by that.
I miss the xscreensaver settings - bruce89, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Brown has nothing to do with Gnome, that's Ubuntu's choice.
Gnome's default theme is blue, but at least it is not cartoon like. - cyanid3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The latest version of SuSE will be using a different concept.. Can't wait :)
- stockjones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its foolish to be different for the sake of just being different. KDE and GNOME smartly enough follow certain UI features that are standard and "Familiar" with general users. Things familiar to Apple or Windows users. It makes senese what they are doing.
- drag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Beagle definately had it's problems..but it's the same issues faced with such indexing applications. And they've improved it quite a bit. I'm using it right now and it has long stopped having any noticable impact on my desktop performance.
Or look at it this way.. They had the same problem with OS X and their desktop search for people that did a upgrade from a older version of OS X. With the search engine going through and indexing everything it takes a large chunk of harddrive time. People who upgraded initially complained of poor performance, but after a while it settled down.
With .NET and Longhorn remember them talking about all this managed code and having the entire Explorer shell rewritten?
Most people don't.. but the idea was that since so many problems were caused by bad old code with buffer overflows and such then replacing all that with lovely managed code made with modern secure programming techniques would be wonderfull.
Microsoft spent a lot of time and money on that and eventually dumped the whole thing when they realised it will be a long time (2+ years) before computer would be able to handle that effectively. They weren't just going to have the GUI portions of applications be high level.. they were doing the ENTIRE THING in managed code.
So of course they dumped the whole thing. Microsoft's failure doesn't nessicarially mean the same thing will happen for Gnome. The low level stuff, the graphical libraries and things that get used over and over again by many different programs will all still be C. - PoptartKing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Favorite new thing is the mention of planned integration between Tomboy and GNOME desktop. I love being able to do one thing in one app and having it show up in five others.
- bigtomrodney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@JonForTheWin
Yeah but the tolde key is only there on some keyboard setups like en_US. In many other keyboard layouts it is beside the return key. I think it would make sense to use a different modifier rather that replacing the tab key. That would be more in the spirit of related shortcut keycombos. - jacks0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Looken' dandy. Next we need integrated standards between gnome and kde. Good work though, it's looking good!
- fatas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Gnome needs to support multiple wallpapers for the different workspaces.
Without it XGL is not fully effective. - CyberGlitch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Also both KDE and Gnome take Window's god awful "Start" menu idea for running applications which is really annoying and needs to be scrapped. "
First off, the "Start Menu" was made popular by Windows, but Microsoft didn't invent it (Apple did, if anyone).
Secondly, the Gnome menus reach far beyond the Window's Start button. Programs are organized by their purpose. Administrative functions are removed from user functions. The user experience overall has been optimized through it.
Thirdly, to encourage the use of a "Desktop Linux," Gnome was resemble the Windows/Mac GUI. New Linux users expect to have some sort of main menu.
I do agree with one of your statements though: those brown/grey tones look incredibly ugly. - clawtros, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Verdana?
sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts - drag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I always hated the bar at the bottom. I prefer to have one at the top.
That way the open/close/minimize/maximize stuff is all close together as well as the application menu and window/desktop selectors. I find that it makes everything much more natural as I am not always moving from top to bottom.
It's a lot about personal taste. I don't think that there is one Linux user that I know that leaves things at their default settings.
For instance another thing I like to do is get rid of the ~/Desktop directory and use ~/ as my default desktop. I use the command line very often and it is much more natural for me. Also you can add, remove the trash, change the name of 'my computer' and all sorts of other little things.
There is the gtweak-ui utilities which are a gui front end for some changes in gconf (Gnome equivelent of the Windows registry, except it's all xml based and uses a real directory/file system instead of a database). Kinda neat.
Also most key accelerators (key combos) are easily customizable. Check out your desktop preferences menu stuff. Lot of tweaking you can do in there.
if you want to get into avanced stuff though it takes a bit more research then just gui hunt-n-peck games.
Linux is all about the customizability.
Think about it..
Which do you prefer?
A custom fit (ie. tailored suit) or One-size-fits-all (ei. tube socks and sweat pants)?
The default Gnome is designed to be as newbie-friendly as possible. It doesn't have to stay that way though. If you mess up you can always wipe out your ~/.??* files and start over. (figure that one out)(but you'd probably want to back up your email and bookmarks and other important things first) - bkor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sumadartson: Part of GTK 2.10, so GNOME 2.16 has it.
- bkor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Davyd mentioned he was too busy to create them this time. I think the article was created by looking at the page we use to list the changes in 2.16; http://live.gnome.org/TwoPointFifteen/ReleaseNotes (note: unorganized on purpose.. that page is just there as a guide to make the real release notes).That page has a few more. It is not a complete list of changes, just whatever might be interesting. However, a few notes will likely be scrapped from that list (not interesting enough) or added.
- drag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0'Real Transparency' as supporting a seperate alpha layer...
Yes Linux has supported this for a while now. It's always been disabled by default though as the Linux 2d acceleration driver model didn't allow for it to be very fast.
And it hasn't been around for 'years and years' though. Composition extention (which allows for 'real' transparency) was one of the first features introduced by X.org when they forked the code from XFree86 project, which wasn't too long ago. (although from the pace of development X is seeing now it would seem to be years and years ago).
I don't think any terminal application took advantage of it though. You could use 'xcompmgr' to make the ENTIRE window translucent, but since it wasn't realy that nice nobody used it.
Now though with the possibility of OpenGL accelerated composition features you'll start to see more and more of it. Despite what the naysayers say it's actually been a desirable feature for a long time.
Realy, having a nice looking desktop is nice. It's like a nice picture or whatever. How many people here leave a gray background for themselves?
AND having 3d acceleration will actually make your system more efficient (as long as you don't go full bore with the eye candy), using the 3d portion of the video card for 2d acceleration is actually much more efficient nowadays then using the 2d portion. In ATI and Nvidia the 2d portions of the cards are holdovers since the Geforce 1 days and they haven't improved performance much, but the 3d portion is a supercomputer compared to what it was like back then.
back on transparencies...
Windows on the other hand has supported alpha channels for forever and a day. Probably since Win9x days. Nobody used it there either for about the same reasons. Although Windows 2-d acceleration was actually decent very much unlike Linux's.
That's why you see in Windows it's called '32bit' color and with Linux the same is called '24bit'. 32 bits is 8 bit per channel RGBA. The 'A' stands for 'alpha'. While 24bit is 8 bit per channel RGB. -
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