UI ​Customizati​on in Longhorn - Please Make It Easy!

I would like to see the explorer(.exe) source code released. You could stick it on the CD and make it illegal to re-distro.. I dunno.. I just like to dream

It would be good if you could customise the start bar, perhaps a bit more KDE like with categories - Office, Games, Graphics etc. Or something simple like the spatial theme in Gnome (with an option to choose between either). Perhaps they should take some ideas from KDE and Gnome and incorporate the best of both.

Virtual desktops would be good too (not like the virtual desktop manager powertoy, but totally different desktops (perhaps same start menu though) - as though you are logging in as a different user). That way you could have one desktop set up for graphics (i.e. PhotoShop, GIMP), Web Design (Visual Studio, Dreameaver) and one for Office Productivity (Word, Excel etc).

Different resolutions for different users would be good - one person logs in and get a 1024x768 desktop, another gets 1600x1200 and one gets 800x600 and so on. Also change DPI without a restart.

Different users can already have different resolutions in XP. And, obviously, I see no benefit to MS of opening the source to the kernel.

But, I do agree that a more customizable interface (without tweaking apps) would be nice. I bought StyleXP then uninstalled it (it leaves the styles there, thankfully so it still works, just with no overhead).

I'd like this level of control without having to install extra software. I'm sure the skinning community would absolutely die for a fully 3D customizable interface.

Thanks for the feedback on this guys. This is something we have heard multiple times from customers. While I can't speak to any firm plans yet ... we are listening on this topic. Stay tuned.

sbc wrote:

Virtual desktops would be good too (not like the virtual desktop manager powertoy, but totally different desktops (perhaps same start menu though) - as though you are logging in as a different user). That way you could have one desktop set up for graphics (i.e. PhotoShop, GIMP), Web Design (Visual Studio, Dreameaver) and one for Office Productivity (Word, Excel etc).

I wonder if we're thinking of the same thing... in Linux, I used to be able to hit Alt-F1, Alt-F2, etc. to switch between consoles, and they ran as completely independant logins.  Utterly brilliant, and 100 times faster than "Switch User", which still drives me nuts sometimes-- it seems like a hack in comparison.

It was a very useful feature.  I had three consoles set up.  Two X consoles, on which I could logically seperate tasks, and one VT-like term, in case anything went seriously wrong.  Today, I'd use it to keep myself and my wife logged in and ready at a moment's notice.

Does anyone know if one can still do that in Linux?  It's been a while since I installed a copy, and it seemed like some distros were downplaying it.  Virtual desktops were becoming very popular at the time, which is great if you only have one user.

Sorry, you're right. I knew it and used the wrong word to make a point. Sorry about that

I've actually seen some very cool stuff with new shells (even back in 95/98 days), but you're right: by and large most people dont' take advantage of this functionality.

My hope is that Longhorn will be open enough, flexible enough and friendly enjoy to allow skinning artists (there are thousands of really talented ones that still do an insane amount of skinning for Windows) to really get into it and have some fun.

In a 3D environment the friendliness may be the hardest though.

Manip wrote:

I would like to see the explorer(.exe) source code released. You could stick it on the CD and make it illegal to re-distro.. I dunno.. I just like to dream

If you had it, I doubt you would understand it as it is only a piece that is likely heavily intergraded with the rest of the operating system.

If Microsoft opened the source, there would be massive piracy. The fact that it is illegal or you will be sued when caught won't stop many people, especially in "developing" countries.

Jeremy W. wrote:

My hope is that Longhorn will be open enough, flexible enough and friendly enjoy to allow skinning artists (there are thousands of really talented ones that still do an insane amount of skinning for Windows) to really get into it and have some fun.

In a 3D environment the friendliness may be the hardest though.

Personally, I think it should be as open as possible without opening the source code.

The easiest way to handle the friendliness is to pay non-technical people to try out Microsoft products and write down any suggestions that they would have to make it easier for them right away. Now that I know the operating system well, my suggestions will be too tech oriented to make things easier than they are now. From now on through, when I have a good idea as to how to make a task easier, if I remember I'll write it down so I can suggest it here.

Built in UI customization could potentially open up a whole new industry. I imagine a site like MSDN or TechNet for graphic and UI designers (something like http://www.wincustomize.com/). Microsoft could make design tool for this like Visual Studio is for MSDN.
The other benefit will surely be the speed of an integrated theme manager ( a more powerful one than there currently is). WindowsBlinds and StyleXP are slowing the system down.