For quite some time now, the graphical computer interface has been based on the desktop metaphor. We all know this concept is not very usefull anymore, since the computer is used also outside the office these days.
There is this guy who’s rethinking the way we interact with computers. Maybe you probably ever heard of SymphonyOs with it’s Mezzo interface. The OS is still very beta, but the interface concept is very clever and well thought-out.
Have a look at this PDF where he explaines his Mezzo interface concept. I found it very interesting to read. He has quite inventive solutions for the shortcomings of today’s conputer interfaces.
Maybe this mezzo interface concept can be used as inspiration for Haiku R2.
In an interesting article though! I’ve been always very interested in user interfaces and good/new ways of displaying information. I sometimes wish I was a little more creative, and invent a totally new concept of interaction though a GUI. 8) That would be neat!
There are a few things i dont like bout Mezzo. I havent read the pdf yet, but from the few screenies i’ve seen:
Minimised program a screenie thing… what if windows are overlapping it? If im to see em, i have three options: move all the overlapping windows which takes time, minimise the overlappers which is silly, or use a temporary "show desktop" command which can be confusing
EDIT: am reading the pdf, its addressed with a 25px wide bar…
If the central-top dock thing also includes systray, then thaz BAD imo cuz it will no doubt keep shifting if new systray icons and all are added, and dynamicity for a frequently accessed or a root command is bad…
EDIT: No systray? Or is the desklets supposed to deal with it…?
The method of quitting the menus is terrible for me… neither is the close button in the corners, and that’s the only way of quitting the menu
The concept is mainly for a casual PC user. Atleast for me, the concept doesnt help in all cases…
Though i love the concept, I have a different ideas of addressing the GUI, not for a casual user, but a more frequent and/or power user…
IMO, instead of keeping a clean desktop, we should be able to store icons. Not as a folder than can store files, instead: it will be a shelf - a temporary place to keep icons, so that they can be reused by other programs. If the desktop is made such we can use the GUI-based pipes feature used in RISC OS and ROX… if the pipes based feature is enabled, we can use happily port the POSIX based CLI software such as 7zip and we wont need to make GUIs for most of em, and use em efficiently
I’m not saying Mezzo the way to go for haiku. I just wanted to point out that other powerfull concepts exist besides the widely used -and so passe- “start-menu” (windows, gnome, kde).
Mezzo isn’t finished yet, and off course isn’t perfect. But some concepts are very interesting and clever imho.
The current Beos GUI is almost an exact copy of the ms windows interface. Time to move on now, and be creative… 8)
I’m not saying Mezzo the way to go for haiku. I just wanted to point out that other powerfull concepts exist besides the widely used -and so passe- “start-menu” (windows, gnome, kde).
Mezzo isn’t finished yet, and off course isn’t perfect. But some concepts are very interesting and clever imho.
The current Beos GUI is almost an exact copy of the ms windows interface. Time to move on now, and be creative… 8)
I’m not saying Mezzo the way to go for haiku. I just wanted to point out that other powerfull concepts exist besides the widely used -and so passe- “start-menu” (windows, gnome, kde).
Mezzo isn’t finished yet, and off course isn’t perfect. But some concepts are very interesting and clever imho.
The current Beos GUI is almost an exact copy of the ms windows interface. Time to move on now, and be creative… 8)
I agree completely. I tried out Mezzo in Symphony OS myself, and I think it has a lot of potential. However, the real future of the desktop is going 3D.
Why do you say that? I can't really see what the advantage is if you consider that the monitor itself is a 2D presentation and that using a mouse is still only operating in only 2D. Not to sound condescending, but what can be accomplished in 3D that can't be done in 2D?
Im not saying Mezzo is bad. It is almost flawless in design, the only prob it may have, comes from point of view…
Start menu hasn’t been scrapped actually… it has been… improved. I was thinking of some similiar stuff (using those dreaded screen corners, better management of content) though i sought to answer em in a different manner (more suited to multi tasking)
I dont think 3d desktops will do any good. We can only see 2 dimensions, and virtualise the third through binocular vision. I cant see one object placed behind another, thus i dont feel desktops will go 3d…
Actually there is no need for innovation if we’re content with it. I see no need for reinventing wheels unless we’re speaking of air cushion propulsions, which is lotsa fuel for not much gain (IMO)
Be interface in my opinion is a bit better… the buttons clearly stand out in the interface, the close and zoom button are placed on opposite ends to prevent accidents, and the close button isn’t coloured red which is good (apple research found out we tend to gravitate towards a red colour). The only thing i dont like in Be, is the way it addresses multi tasking… teh buttons get overlapped which becomes a prob. I dont like the horizontal button arrangement of windows, which allows for only bout 4 apps’ labels to be visible properly
I was visualising a similiar interface actually, though it is way after teh start of mezzo project (but was unaware of it) and teh one i thought of uses the four corners as search, be menu, dock in centre (for shortcuts, workspaces and shelf no programs), My Comp and My Doc…
Moving away from the desktop model is happening although still in the labs. Check out Jeff Han’s muti-touch/multi-user fron-end and the Bump-top interface.
In the meantime, I think windowless apps (replicants) is the way to go for all apps.
Think of any bit-map editor. The image is continually constrained by the window rather than the desktop, yet the image is independent of the window. Most drawing tools do not work across the window boundaries. Why have a window at all? When the app starts, an empty image appears along with the tool menu. Draw away, right-click to bring up the file menu for saving, deleting, copying, starting anew, etc. This mitigates the boundary issues rather than solves them because the app itself needs to change as well.
When you work on your checkbook at home, you do not do so in a framed space but using the entire desktop. So, the Quicken, Money, kMyMoney apps should operate on the desktop rather than in the windows they do now.
Windowed apps are a reflection of the original Xerox Parc multi-window / workspace model. Apple kept the multi-windows but had them all work in a single workspace - Microsoft followed suit.
A windowless app is more appropriate to a desktop model.
Well, beyond 3d, what about moving away (or at least trying out!) a glove/vr helmet style interface? Think 3dmix*in tron/Johnny Mnenomnic style! w000t!
Or literal drag and drop file management! Or stuffed toys that talk to you on your “desktop”
Or we could all go back to a text only interface, yet with full keyboard/mouse GUI behavior. ASCII art yay.
Or how about the other senses like touch, taste and smell. Who hasn’t wanted to smell some home baked cookies in their “desktop” microwave! :P…
Okay, Im a little weird, but you have to admit, hand controlled 3dmixing would be pretty cool! Does mezzo have anything like that? I haven’t seen anything like 3dmix in anything other than BE and its family.
Okay I’m done! weeeeeeeeee!
Why can’t I have a password longer than 30 characters? oh well :P…
Hey look I am drooling again!
oh well :P…