What would your perfect OS UI look like?

[Stuart_M]

... If you could design it all anyway you would want it, what would that be? ...

MX-19 Xfce

[DMLinux]

Interesting topic! Appearance is not a big deal for me, with the exceptions that I want to see an obvious division line or "3D effect" between things like web browser tabs and taskbar icons, and to have the ability to add some extra space between icons on the taskbar, similar to the "Flexible Space" that is available when customizing Firefox toolbars. And easier to find option for changing global font and icon sizes for the desktop, taskbar, and application menu would be nice.

One feature that I saw a few years ago on a Mac that I have always thought should be on every computer: a "file drawer" on the taskbar that has links to the most frequently used files. A click on the icon would pop up a list that would have documents instead of applications and would be various file types such as the most recently used text or word processing docs, spreadsheets, PDFs, or whatever, sort of like the Recent Files list on the MX 21.1 KDE application menu, but is user configured with a right-click selection in Dolphin (or other file manager) to add a file to the "file drawer".

Another ease of use feature would be an application menu that by default has a double column list. One column would list be applications sorted by categories like MX 21.1 KDE and the second column would be applications sorted in alphabetical order like MS Windows.

[JayM]

I agree with what was already posted, especially about theme and icon conformity across all GTK and QT apps. Whether or not an app is QT, GTK2 or GTK3 should be agnostic to the user, it should be handled by the OS to present the best user experience. Also remembering window dimensions and positions without having to resort to devilspie or any similar add-on, and not having to take multiple tries to grab a window edge or corner to drag it and resize it. Looking at you, theme developers!

Other things I'll add and some things my perfect OS wouldn't do:
1. NO eye candy. No animations, window fading or sliding or any other "special FX" enabled by default. It's an operating system not an entertainment system and all that stuff just slows things down. Let those who want that sort of thing enable it.

2. Window-snapping and suchlike should be disabled by default. I should be able to move my windows to where I want them without the OS jumping in and doing things to them. I absolutely hate it when an OS (or an app) elbows me aside and tries to take over, almost invariably doing something I didn't want. I want the OS and the apps to stay out of the way and let me get things done.

3. There should be one central place for management of related settings rather than a ton of separate applets. (This includes a place to view and manage system services and daemons, which Xfce lacks.) For example, in Xfce I should be able to change keyboard accessibility options in Settings/Keyboard rather than having to use a separate Accessibility applet. All keyboard settings should be accessible in the same place. Another example: Xfce's Settings/Display should have a tab where you can do what it takes ARandR to accomplish now, to let you configure multiple monitors the way you want them without having to use two different apps. And I should be able to set mouse behavior globally such as getting the cursor to disappear while typing rather than having to set that per application (if they even have such a setting, which most don't.)

4. Dragging sliders to change numeric setting values sucks! It takes so long to be able to get the value to exactly what you want. In addition to or instead of the slider the value number should be able to be directly entered, or at least have up-down arrow buttons so you can get the value reasonably close with the slider then fine-tune it with the arrow buttons. Sliders may look cool but they're hard to use and take too much time.

5. Web 2.0 is so 2000! No green and blue rounded buttons, please. No lists of settings or other things that you have to scroll infinitely to get to the bottom.

Basically the OS and user interface should ideally be designed from the ground up with ease of use as a higher priority than looking swell. Function over form! (MX comes pretty close, considering that they're also stuck with whatever UI design decisions that upstream Debian made, plus those of whatever the desktop environment is.)

There's never going to be a year of the Linux desktop at this rate, because Linux is about freedom of choice and with that always comes compromise. All Linus distros are mostly a custom-assemlbed collection of off-the-shelf parts plus a few custom add-ons so the distro ends up being stuck with whatever decisions the DE, window manager and app devs made. There really needs to be a consortium of Linux developers: distros, desktop environments, application developers, who develop a set of voluntary standards that all should strive to meet. The user community should also have a voice. The way it is, every developer is free to do whatever she likes, which is cool for the developer but also can lead to an inconsistent or poor end-user experience, and that's where desktop Linux is today.

[Gordon Cooper]

@ JayM. A lot of sense in your post. One phrase in particular " ease of use as a higher priority than looking swell".

Personally, I don't really care how the screen looks, as long as it, and the system, does not waste my time.

[Shifu]

MX 21 XFCE with a few tweaks:
- no CSD anywhere
- all apps respecting the xfwm4 window manager
- the original task switcher
- a proper 21st century fix for corner gripping
- size of all onscreen elements reduced to 85-90% (all linuxes are just a bit too big)

[DMLinux]

I agree with what was already posted, especially about theme and icon conformity across all GTK and QT apps. Whether or not an app is QT, GTK2 or GTK3 should be agnostic to the user it should be handled by the OS to present the best user experience. Also remembering window dimensions and positions without having to resort to devilspie or any similar add-on, and not having to take multiple tries to grab a window edge or corner to drag it and resize it. Looking at you, theme developers!

Other things I'll add and some things my perfect OS wouldn't do:
1. NO eye candy. No animations, window fading or sliding or any other "special FX" enabled by default. It's an operating system not an entertainment system and all that stuff just slows things down. Let those who want that sort of thing enable it.

2. Window-snapping and suchlike should be disabled by default. I should be able to move my windows to where I want them without the OS jumping in and doing things to them. I absolutely hate it when an OS (or an app) elbows me aside and tries to take over, almost invariably doing something I didn't want. I want the OS and the apps to stay out of the way and let me get things done.

3. There should be one central place for management of related settings rather than a ton of separate applets. (This includes a place to view and manage system services and daemons, which Xfce lacks.) For example, in Xfce I should be able to change keyboard accessibility options in Settings/Keyboard rather than having to use a separate Accessibility applet. All keyboard settings should be accessible in the same place. Another example: Xfce's Settings/Display should have a tab where you can do what it takes ARandR to accomplish now, to let you configure multiple monitors the way you want them without having to use two different apps. And I should be able to set mouse behavior globally such as getting the cursor to disappear while typing rather than having to set that per application (if they even have such a setting, which most don't.)

4. Dragging sliders to change numeric setting values sucks! It takes so long to be able to get the value to exactly what you want. In addition to or instead of the slider the value number should be able to be directly entered, or at least have up-down arrow buttons so you can get the value reasonably close with the slider then fine-tune it with the arrow buttons. Sliders may look cool but they're hard to use and take too much time.

5. Web 2.0 is so 2000! No green and blue rounded buttons, please. No lists of settings or other things that you have to scroll infinitely to get to the bottom.

Basically the OS and user interface should ideally be designed from the ground up with ease of use as a higher priority than looking swell. Function over form! (MX comes pretty close, considering that they're also stuck with whatever UI design decisions that upstream Debian made, plus those of whatever the desktop environment is.)

There's never going to be a year of the Linux desktop at this rate, because Linux is about freedom of choice and with that always comes compromise. All Linus distros are mostly a custom-assemlbed collection of off-the-shelf parts plus a few custom add-ons so the distro ends up being stuck with whatever decisions the DE, window manager and app devs made. There really needs to be a consortium of Linux developers: distros, desktop environments, application developers, who develop a set of voluntary standards that all should strive to meet. The user community should also have a voice. The way it is, every developer is free to do whatever she likes, which is cool for the developer but also can lead to an inconsistent or poor end-user experience, and that's where desktop Linux is today.

What he said! I am in the process of trying to "recover" (or catch up, or...) from 8-9 years of not using Linux. I am using KDE. I very briefly looked at XFCE and GNOME, but won't be installing either. I could not find stuff in them. I am having problems figuring out where to go to tweak this feature, and where to set up that setting and so on. It would be so nice if every app window would open at the same place and size as when I last closed it. My second go-round as a newbie is involving much more time researching how to do things and where things have moved to that I anticipated. MX has proved to be a little bit easier than the previous distro that I tried, and I can see a lot of MX developers have tried to make it easier to get along with, and I thank them big-time.

It all needs to be form and function first with convenient to find and use how-to-find-and-how-to-use configuration options. I don't remember now which one, but I have already uninstalled one item simply because I could not get it to reopen with the same window placement and size.

Form and function first, ease of use second, and then eye candy.

[Stuart_M]

4. Dragging sliders to change numeric setting values ... takes so long to be able to get the value to exactly what you want. In addition to or instead of the slider the value number should be able to be directly entered, or at least have up-down arrow buttons so you can get the value reasonably close with the slider then fine-tune it with the arrow buttons.

There is a way to easily adjust a slider in small increments. Make the slider active (click on it) and then use the arrow keys to adjust the setting in the finest increment possible. One arrow key-stroke equals one slider value change.

... I have already uninstalled one item simply because I could not get it to reopen with the same window placement and size. ...

Just FYI, installing gdevilspie which is a GUI version (MX-21 not available; MX-19 Test Repo) or devilspie2 which is not GUI (MX-21 and MX-19 both Stable Repo) will allow opening an application window at the size and location as determined by the user. I've been using both for years without any problems. Just want to show that a (easy) workaround to that shortcoming is known.

[Mauser]

MX 21 XFCE with a few tweaks:
- no CSD anywhere
- all apps respecting the xfwm4 window manager
- the original task switcher
- a proper 21st century fix for corner gripping
- size of all onscreen elements reduced to 85-90% (all linuxes are just a bit too big)

I agree with you on "no CSD anywhere", I hate CSD because it looks uglier than home made lye soap.

[dolphin_oracle]

standard hot keys, easily changeable, super-key opens a menu with search functions (because I haven't navigated an application menu in years). easy folder creation from file dialogs, and a desktop that points to a folder. bonus window snaps to edges of screen. mouse/keyboard either/or type action I want to use the computer, how I want at the time I want, and that method changes.

after that i don't care much, and most of the big-boy DEs fit the bill, even windows. If it runs my apps, I'm happy. Its shocking how little I change defaults.

[richb]

Without getting into minutiae, I am quite happy with MX 21 KDE. It does all that I want intuitively via keyboard or mouse.