workspace switcher: name OR preview, but not both

[Alan Porter]

Binary package hint: gnome-panel

Workspace Switcher v2.20.1 on Ubuntu gutsy (7.10)

Bug or feature request... not sure which.

I can turn on workspace names in the switcher, but then I lose the preview that is normally there.

I use 12 workspaces. With so many, it's hard to remember which one is for which use. Normally, I can see what is running in each workspace, but I can't tell which workspace is which. So I give them names and then choose to display the names. But then the preview goes away and I can not tell if there are open windows in each workspace without really looking for it (listing the windows in the window selector, or visiting each workspace in turn). In fact, without the preview, the entire workspace switcher turns into a big waste of space, just like 12 static buttons.

It would be nice if I could see the names as well as the previews. I know that makes the display a little busier. But if I have to give up either names or previews, the switcher's usefulness is diminished quite a lot.

Alan

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Nov 25 21:40:05 2007
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 7.10
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-panel
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Package: gnome-panel 1:2.20.1-0ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: i386
ProcCmdline: gnome-panel --sm-client-id default1
ProcCwd: /home/alan
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-panel
Uname: Linux kimono 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Sun Oct 14 23:05:12 GMT 2007 i686 GNU/Linux

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Thanks for your report, Do you have enabled the Visual Effects?

[Alan Porter (alan.porter)]

I tried the fancy new visual effects briefly, but then disabled it that same day because it seemed to be unstable on my laptop's video card. Since then, I have been running plain Jane GNOME with no advanced visual effects.

Alan

[Alan Porter (alan.porter)]

A couple of notes:

(1) At work, I use Kubuntu. It has a similar applet called "pager" which allows the names and the previews to be viewed at the same time. Nicely done there. A little bit on the "busy" looking side, but very usable.

(2) Back to GNOME workspace switcher, if you have the workspace names turned on, you lose the ability to drag windows from one workspace to another (because you do not get to see the preview at all). Instead, you have to use the little pull-down menu in the upper left corner of the window.

Thanks for looking into this.

Alan

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

that's similar to http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=115237

[Alan Porter (alan.porter)]

I'm not sure if 115237 is talking about adding workspace names to the desktop itself, or to the little preview area in the desktop switcher. My request was the latter. I just want to make sure that the bug reports do not get combined and then the subtle distinction gets inadvertently lost.

Also attaching a picture of the kubuntu desktop switcher in action, showing several windows open in several desktops, with desktop names and application windows clearly visible.

Alan

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

the gnome bug is about the workspace switcher applet