OSX like -> Looking for App-window

Forum thread started by Master199 on Thu, 2006-12-07 15:54

Hello,

sometimes, if i opened many programs I lose windows on my Workspace... (like the configuration window from Vision...)
On OSX i hit F9 (i dont remember the name of that feature, iam sure it has one) and i'll get an overview with my app-windows, so i can choose which window i need currently.

okay i could use the deskbar, but this isnt that cool ;-)

ciao,
Daniel Weber

‹ new fields for Pepole app Installation program ›

Comments

re: ++

by Weishaupt - 2006-12-07 19:39

++ D

(i like the idea ...)

edit hmm ... my first post in 6 month ...

Re: OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by tbe - 2006-12-10 14:06
Master199 wrote:
On OSX i hit F9 (i dont remember the name of that feature, iam sure it has one) and i'll get an overview with my app-windows, so i can choose which window i need currently.

Apple calls this Exposé; http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/expose/

Please remember that this is one of the features in OS X that are made possible by Apple's display technology, Quarz Extreme. Every window in MacOS is potentially scalable, flippable, twistable and bendable in any way you can imagine. Apple would never have created Exposé, or the vacuum cleaner-like window iconification if it wasn't for Quarz.

If Haiku wants to implement this as impressively as Exposé, it first needs something like an OpenGL-based app_server, or at least come up with some way to make use of the GPU to resize windows. Only the former would present "live" scaled down windows like OS X does.

Re: OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by ebykm - 2006-12-11 15:36

such eyecandy stuff exists for windows and *nix (looking glass project) and those ones on ubuntu 6.

http://www.spheresite.com/screenshots.html for windows

http://ubuntuforums.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=4011&cat=3 for KDE

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by arielb - 2006-12-12 12:12

gotta be careful with this stuff. wobbly windows are just stupid...if I want to be wowed by eye candy, I'd play a game.
I like the idea of windows spread out everywhere but the key is making it make sense

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by tbe - 2006-12-12 13:29

The feature we're discussing here really is useful and is not eye candy, but it's not something that can be tossed onto any system. It absolutely depends on Quarz Extreme or similar technology.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by umccullough - 2006-12-12 17:59
bogomipz wrote:
The feature we're discussing here really is useful and is not eye candy, but it's not something that can be tossed onto any system. It absolutely depends on Quarz Extreme or similar technology.

You might be surprised - a lot of those tricks can be simulated with 2d AGG - which forms the basis of the Haiku app_server drawing engine already.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by ebykm - 2006-12-13 07:13
bogomipz wrote:
but it's not something that can be tossed onto any system. It absolutely depends on Quarz Extreme or similar technology.

Hmmm, if it cannot be tossed to any system, i wonder how they were able to make Aqua looking interface and those gimics into Linux within a week. :?

Quote:
The feature we're discussing here really is useful and is not eye candy

Well, i use it very often, especially when browsing.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by NoHaikuForMe - 2006-12-13 11:19
ebykm wrote:
Hmmm, if it cannot be tossed to any system, i wonder how they were able to make Aqua looking interface and those gimics into Linux within a week. :?

It's been expected for a long time that 3D accelerated hardware would become ubiquitous and by the time that happened the leading desktop operating systems would need to be ready to take full advantage of it while retaining compatibility with existing software.

Apple eventually came up with Quartz Extreme, Microsoft with their Desktop Window Manager and Free Unix developers with Xgl and Accelerated Indirect GLX. Each of these technologies works with existing software but renders a 3D alpha composited desktop using the accelerated hardware.

Once this infrastructure is in place it is relatively trivial to clone any specific effect from a competitor's desktop UI, and to experiment with other ideas either for usability or purely as eye candy.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by tbe - 2006-12-13 13:26
umccullough wrote:
You might be surprised - a lot of those tricks can be simulated with 2d AGG - which forms the basis of the Haiku app_server drawing engine already.

Interesting. If the current app_server is capable of scaling down windows without freezing animations and video playback, and this comes with little or no performance hit for radeon/nvidia systems, then I'd say it's worth exploring.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by umccullough - 2006-12-13 16:36
bogomipz wrote:
umccullough wrote:
You might be surprised - a lot of those tricks can be simulated with 2d AGG - which forms the basis of the Haiku app_server drawing engine already.

Interesting. If the current app_server is capable of scaling down windows without freezing animations and video playback, and this comes with little or no performance hit for radeon/nvidia systems, then I'd say it's worth exploring.

I suspect right now, most of it is software-based algorithms - so don't expect it to be speedy and "free". I only stated that it could be possible, not that it would be fast ;)

These types of "eye candy" - while maybe useful - are not "free" for OSes without proper hardware support. They make the OS feel "slow" - and that is why Haiku should stay away from them until they are a real viable option.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by arielb - 2006-12-14 21:47
bogomipz wrote:
The feature we're discussing here really is useful and is not eye candy, but it's not something that can be tossed onto any system. It absolutely depends on Quarz Extreme or similar technology.

yes we need to keep the useful stuff and not go overboard just to show off. Soon everyone will have these tricks...now the question is: which system makes you more comfortable?

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by commodore - 2007-01-07 10:17

There was a Linux app that did this without 3D. I can't remember the name. It seemed like it took a screenshot of each window and resized it.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by johndrinkwater - 2007-01-07 16:32
commodore wrote:
There was a Linux app that did this without 3D. I can't remember the name. It seemed like it took a screenshot of each window and resized it.

Afaik, there are calls in X to allow you to grab a window. Anyhow, this reminded me of a comment on OSNews recently that I bookmarked:
http://osnews.com/permalink.php?news_id=16844&comment_id=197342

Quote:
OpenBSD
FVWM 2.5

Every time you minimize a program it takes a screenshot and makes a small icon that you can click to recover the program. Probably with XGL these days you can get them to be live icons. Translucent menus (if you need them) because everything is key driven (ctrl+n for mozilla, etc)

and the desktop screenshot:

*edited: I hate phpbb

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by commodore - 2007-01-07 16:35

That's also pretty cool.

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by arielb - 2007-01-18 19:47

I do like the idea of scaled windows though i would add normal sized title tabs so that you could easily close or resize

OSX like -> Looking for App-window

by ar1000 - 2007-01-18 20:08
ebykm wrote:
Hmmm, if it cannot be tossed to any system, i wonder how they were able to make Aqua looking interface and those gimics into Linux within a week.

no.