Dodge windows is down but what about making the launcher autohide only on maximised apps ?

[Fabien Lusseau]

I was using dodge windows in unity mainly because it make the launcher go out of the way on maximized apps (like Kdenlive who is benefiting a lot from unity's capability of making the most space usable).

But I was never hiding the launcher when I use "windowed" apps (like firefox on the left and openoffice on the righ part of the screen) because it helped me a lot switching with something else rapidly (like thunderbird, pidgin, etc)

What I think to be a good third behavior of the launcher is to hide itself when one app or more are fullscreen and if they are not, being always there.

There is some corner cases like if one app is full screen and the focused app is not. But I think this will not bring some crazy bugs like dodging windows did in the past.

[Ego (egogratis)]

When users lands on Unity "home page" the first thing he/she reads is:

Unity: A desktop experience designed for efficiency of space and interaction.

https://launchpad.net/unity

Allow mechanism to hide Unity Launcher when at least one Windows is maximized and in all other situations act like never hide mode does or remove the part "for efficiency of space"!

[zzecool (zzecool)]

I agree

If you use the launcher as "never hide" then there are numerous problems

1 : The space , we are losing valuable space on the desktop that is a must especially on laptops and net-books or looking at future on tablets.

The mention of " Unity: A desktop experience designed for efficiency of space and interaction." also comes in conflict with never hide too.

2 : Other than space , it can result on many "accidents" , while working on a maximized application i found my self pressing application buttons on the launcher by mistake that result on ruin my workflow and have various applications pop up "from nowhere" ( most of the times i didnt noticed that i had pressed any button )

3 : Its very distracting ! When i have my application maximized i dont want to be distracted by the beautiful colorfull Launcher icons because if i wanted too i wouldn't have my application maximized .

Professional applications take that in mind very Seriously that's why many times we see that applications like Aftershot , many video editing software , etc give you the choice to pick a very dark UI them so you can work without any distraction. Like you are in a Dark Room !

On the other hand if you choose to have the launcher on "autohide" when you have a maximized application everythng is fine as it should.

But ! When you dont have any application running or you decide to run something unmaximized on purpose then you are losing Everything about what unity suppose to be the launcher and his feedback.

Every day we see more and more application to adapt on the unity design and develop their application with that in mind . Having the Launcher icon to give you various feedback information about what is happening with the application like

Progress of the file transfer
Updates available
Mails waiting to be read
And a ton more other..

All this nice features interaction and feedback goes away when using launcher "autohide"

The launcher must be clever and be there when you need it , but leaves you the precious space when you need to work with desktop in his full potential.

[zzecool (zzecool)]

Sorry for the typos , but there is no edit button to fix em .

[Christopher Kyle Horton (christhehorton)]

If I remember correctly, one of the main reasons intellihide was removed was that users were confused when an application was maximized and they couldn't find the launcher again. I see no way this will be re-implemented unless the launcher gained some way to hint to users how to reveal it when it is hidden (like a tab pointing to the side of the screen), and I'm afraid it would add visual clutter.

[zzecool (zzecool)]

Leaving the "never hide" as the default behavior will not gonna confuse any user .

In the same way of thinking "autohide" is even worst because you start on a desktop with no launcher at all , if not by mistake the novice user will not be able to find the launcher. All the other reasons its on my first comment above.

A proper test is if you test the Desktop with some "new comers " that didn't knew anything about Unity and if they found "intelihide" confusing , then you have to be sure that this users will keep using Unity and test em again after some days - months.

Im afraid that the statement "confused the users" and will result in "visual clutter" sound like an excuse where i cant see how "Autohide" is better than "Intelihide" . Even the name makes it better and point the intelligent characteristic of the feature.

[Christopher Kyle Horton (christhehorton)]

@zzecool There's testing that was done which shows empirically that intellihide confused users who were new to Ubuntu. You can read more on that and the decision to remove it here: https://lists.launchpad.net/unity-design/msg07665.html

We can't be sure that users will get used to something which will likely confuse them off the bat, because if it's not obvious right away, they might be inclined to give up on it and go back to whatever OS they were using before. We certainly don't want that, and we can't force users to try to figure out their interface. Not everyone is skilled enough with computers or patient enough for that. That's why the default is always visible, so they always know where it is.

The reason autohide can stay is because it is considered an advanced feature. If they are so inclined, they can find the autohide option in System Settings, where the options even describe how to reveal the launcher and give additional settings. By this point, the user should be sufficiently informed as to what's going on when they let the launcher hide, so they're not left wondering where it went. And if they find it gives them issues, they can always reach System Settings from the power cog and reset to the always visible default.

[zzecool (zzecool)]

@Christopher My first comment still waiting for answers and pointing me on the mail list that i have allrdy ridden doesn't give me any.

Im all with you ! I also want to see more and more ppl join ubuntu . If you open your ubuntu desktop seat back relax take a look of the UI what you get?

What im getting is a top panel looks exactly like if i was in OSx and i can also see the Windows 7 taskbar moved from bottom to the left. Even though im not a new user on ubuntu i was a new user on unity like all of us and i think its more than enough to not alienate the user.

I feel like if a new user press by mistake the ALT key will be much more alienate by HUD than anything (I like Hud too , its an example based "in the way you are thinking" )

Your last paragraph still don't give me an answer about "" how "Autohide" is better than "Intelihide ""

[papukaija (papukaija)]

"the main reasons intellihide was removed was that users were confused when an application was maximized and they couldn't find the launcher again. "

And moving the window control buttons for maximimised windows to the global menu does not confuse anyone?

[Christopher Kyle Horton (christhehorton)]

@zzecool Autohide has to be explicitly opted into, and it has more consistent behavior than intellihide. I guess part of what might be confusing people may also be the nature of intellihide that sometimes your launcher is visible, and sometimes it isn't. At any rate, it's never explained to the user beforehand how it works. If its behavior were described and offered as an advanced option, that might make it more palatable to new users, though I'd be guessing the user testing must have revealed something else wrong with it if Canonical decided to remove it completely. At any rate, it definitely should not be the default.

As for Unity's similarities to other OSes, I'm pretty sure the Mac OS X dock and Windows 7 taskbar neither support intellihide. The former was always visible on every public Mac I've used (disclaimer: never owned a Mac myself), and the Windows 7 taskbar is similar to the options Unity now gives for its launcher in that it's either always visible or reveals itself when the user mouses the side of the screen it is on. People can expect these behaviors because they have seen them in the operating systems they have previously used, but intellihide might be an alien concept to them.

Looking back over your first comment (#2), I see you mention issues with screen space and seeing the information present on launcher icons with autohide set. The first one is easy enough to address: the Appearance settings give a slider to adjust the icon size, which can be brought all the way down to 32px if so inclined. For the second one, the launcher can still be revealed by mouseover if the user wants to see what their current status is on the progress bars for their various apps. I agree that it doesn't do a sufficient job of asking for user attention when an icon starts glowing while the launcher is hidden, but that has already been reported as bug #770092.

With regards to your HUD comment and papukaija's question about moving the window buttons to the menu bar for maximized windows, the best I can say is that if they haven't been removed yet, they must not have been shown to be confusing to users in testing. I'm a college undergraduate, not a Canonical employee, so I only know of what has been discussed in blog posts and announcements.

[zzecool (zzecool)]

Im not asking about make intelihide the default , so all the statements about user testing are irrelevant . I also want a pleasing welcome for every new comer

Im asking about intelihide instead of autohide or keep them both for reasons that i allrdy described above.

PS: im in 32px launcher since unity's Day 0 .

[Ego (egogratis)]

If the users are so confused about Dodge Windows alike functionality why do we the users want it so bad? Usually the users that complain the most about Ubuntu are doing it because they will not use Ubuntu and they need excuse and they will still find it.

I do agree you can't find feature like this on other OS-es. That is why Unity Shell is better? Shouldn't it be? I don't see nothing wrong with that?

How many user usually use "Windows OS + autohide"? Probably less users then the number of Ubuntu users that would like to use Dodge alike functionality in the future too?

I don't believe option in system settings that would say "Hide Unity Launcher when at least one windows is maximized" would confuse users because it would do exactly what it is supposed to do. Just like "Always Hide" or "Never Hide" does. All three are easy to understand and are consistent? At least implement something simplified and similar to this mode and leave the setting out of system settings. We will find it!

[Christopher Kyle Horton (christhehorton)]

@Ego With regard to your first sentence, keep in mind that there's a big difference between the two kinds of users you mention. The users getting confused about window dodging are the new users who have never even heard of Ubuntu before, and have probably been using Windows or Mac (or both) exclusively up to now; the users who want window dodging back are us experienced users who already have used Ubuntu and/or other Linux distros, and we know better what it is.

That being said, I do agree that it'd be nice if an option was made to enable window dodging (either the old kind or the new one this report is for) that also explained what it was before users turned it on.

At this point, I think we need to wait to hear what the devs have to say. This report is maybe getting a bit too chatty.

[aquahawk (shane71717)]

I think dodge should stay for the fact if you have firefox open for instance, unity launcher overlaps the backbutton makeing firefox unusable without having to move firefox by hand to the right ,you could solve this by making unity launcher always below
but then unity launcher isnt accessable because its under other windows . Its inconsistant and confusing because
say you use the snap function unity launcher wont overlap the launcher ,but when you move firefox to the left
unless you snap it its under the launcher.

Another option would be so when the launcher is visible it takes up the space so that is the edge of the screen now
is the edge of the launcher

 I have two use cases that moved over to ubuntu because of this feature

(1) A 75 year old man . (just learned how to use google!!!!!)
(2) A 35 year old female.(just checks email does a bit of office work)

So not power users.

They both didn't find it confusing ,but now they are dissapointed its gone , and unless i patch it back in there moving back
to windows . Because this is what windows didnt have, all the wobbly windows and the compiz flashyness didnt impress them but this did, Hud now thats confusing but having said that there in a learning curve for anything, But if you use the same users who cant understand dodge as the use case ,Then good bye hud because those same use cases im talking about dont get how to use hud. But they understood dodge.

So please leave it as a disabled option , or could someone submit a patch to put it back in and i can put it back in.
I know how to apply a patch.

The users im talking about are my father and sister,and they are nice people not complainers ,its more dissapointed than anything.

[Ego (egogratis)]

Maybe just one more thought about new users.

-We all were new users of Unity Shell not so long back in time.
-Just like Always hide this third option would not have to be default.

And yes "winning over" users from other OS-es should be made in a way they fill comfortable and not confused but on the other hand you have to offer them something they don't already have and Dodge Windows is something they don't have right now and we Ubuntu users do/did have.

And yes i do agree basically everything important was said!

[zzecool (zzecool)]

One palliative solution could also be to give the user the ability to choose different behavior of the launcher per workspace or per output.

So in workspace 1 i can have the launcher in "never hide" for internet , mail , twitting , chit chat etc
and for workspace 2 to have the launcher in "autohide" so i can use my screen to its full potential.

[Octavian Damiean (mainerror)]

Removing Intellihide completely is a step backwards. It was one of the features that set Ubuntu apart from all the other operating systems. It was innovative.

I'd like to highlight a problem with a fixed launcher. More and more websites are being designed using responsive web design techniques. In short it means that websites adjust their information representation based on a couple of factors like screen width, height and more.

Viewing a website like http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/ on a laptop with a resolution of 1024x768 with the launcher set to always display will result in that page to believe you are a tablet computer and change its information representation accordingly. Some website features won't be available. That website is only one example.

Now "that" is a problem!

It is no problem that the usability tests revealed that Intellihide is confusing - regardless of how illogical that might be - it doesn't mean that it should be completely removed. Ubuntu has taken a lot of flak for ignoring its power users. I'm not sure why you think that removing a such an important feature would help with that problem.

What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't make any sense at all to remove the features completely from Ubuntu. Keep it as an optional launcher behavior setting, hide it and make it available only from the gconf-editor if you want but DON't remove it. It just makes no sense.

[Brendan William (bwilliam)]

Really stupid decision Canonical. Your basically going back to the unity in maverick (probably the dumbest version invented).

[Brendan William (bwilliam)]

Just because you get multi monitor support dosen't mean netbooks/laptops have two monitors.

[Christopher Kyle Horton (christhehorton)]

@Brendan Please refrain from posting comments that are not useful for resolving this bug.

[Aleve Sicofante (sicofante)]

While dodging the launcher by non-maximized windows might be considered gimmicky (it's definitely cool but probably not that useful), intellihide, as it's called in several Linux docks/launchers, is far from a gimmick. It's a real productivity boon, a space saving and very clever feature.

New users don't apply for anything that's not default. If dodge/intellihide is confusing for new users, making it optional instead of default is the the logical decision. "Difficult for new users -> has to be removed", is not logical at all.

Even for newcomers, a slow animation showing the launcher hiding or coming back would have explained very well what's going on. This is very visible when dodging the launcher with a non-maximized window. Making it visible when maximizing a window was the design team task, not removing the feature altogether. (Power users could be given the option to change the hiding/unhiding speed in CCSM.)

Other OSs not having this feature isn't a reason either. We choose Ubuntu BECAUSE it provides features other OSs don't. The best reason for not hiding the launcher is the same for not hiding the global menu: you need to see them in order to aim BEFORE you get there. Since this has been finally understood by the design team regarding global menus (according to MS words on its post about the HUD), it should be obvious that autohiding is not a good solution, while intellihide is.

It's understandable that keeping options makes the code harder to maintain, but that can't be a serious reason either. Maybe the dodge function is too complex? Intellihide is just a switch: show launcher if no window is maximized. That isn't complex by any stretch of the imagination and can't be hard to maintain. Ubuntu is full of much more complex (and eventually buggy) pieces of code no one is thinking of removing just because of that.

So I expect the design team reconsiders this decision, cleans up the code to make this a simpler function (intellihide instead of dodge) or simply keep the option as non-default ("always show" would be the default). I thing that's a balanced response to the user testing. The "just remove it" response is not only harsh and harming to many, it also fails to follow a logical thinking path.

[[e-mail] (jdperea)]

Please! return de Dodge windows!

[Adrian Wechner (adrian-wechner)]

personally, i have no problem with default behaviours change. thats canonicals decision. but starting from a "default" feature and ending in "feature removed" is too hard. you can't hard-remove a feature which has been THE DEFAULT since a year. i you want change the default config, but let the possibility that people who want can change the config to the old default. thx

[them par (thmanoy)]

"Never Hide" wastes too much space,
"Always Hide" is very annoying when you log in and there is no launcher,
"Hide only when an app is focused and maximized" or "Hide only when at least an app is maximized" are the best options.
However, "Never Hide" should be the default behaviour for newcomers to Ubuntu so as not to get confused.

[Matija Polajnar (matija-polajnar)]

Decisions like this made me leave Ubuntu with Unity for Xubuntu. I mean, what's the point in using a CPU and GPU-intensive shell when it does a way worse job than Xfce + Gnome-do?

I understand that overabundance of features clutters GUIs and complicates maintenance. However, this feature already has a GUI element (for switching between 'always show' and 'autohide'), and I don't think this feature complicates code more than it gives advantage to us, advanced users.

I mean, you can target your OS for average Joes, but they won't install it by themselves anyway; we, advanced users, will do it for them and we won't unless we use (and therefore know) the system ...

[Bertrandel (mezcalbert)]

Worst, attracting new users is a good thing but if you keep disappointing intermediate and advanced users with many hazardous decisions and thus make them flee, the amount of users remains the same at the end of the day, that's not even a logical business decision. Attract AND keeps requires more balance in the choices.

As for arguments for this essential bug to be resolved:

- Dodging or Intellihide or whatever you call it is just the smart behaviour, for many reasons: 1. The launcher gets out of the way when you don't want to have it (e.g. maximizing a window, or snapping 2 windows vertically); 2. but still is there when you want it; 3. You don't have to make that annoying (and slightly time-consuming) gesture to the edge of the screen to get the launcher when that's not useful to do it (no window maximized), and that's a major complaint I have against Gnome Shell as well; 4. The icons in the visible launcher allow you to see at all time which applications have a running instance and even the number of instances for the specific application, and this overview is needed (another complaint against GS as well, where you must trigger the dash with a large and annoying gesture, especially on touchpads, to get such a basic overview); 5. As mentioned by zzecool, many dynamic features over the icon appeared and what's the point if you can't see them most of the time?
Regarding productivity and Unity's possibilities, that's an absolute need.

- So, for the very same reasons "Auto-hide" is the least natural (not to say the most stupid) behaviour. And not mentioning the issues of the launcher spreading over buttons, content, and such. Very unconfortable. That would be the one to remove if wanting to save resources.

- Then, you have "Never hide", which wastes a lot of space, but above all completely distorts the Ambiance/Radiance theme, making it dreadfully inconsistent with maximized windows (not to say ugly, but that's more of a personal opinion). It may be good as default not to confuse newcomers, but on the other hand, the theme inconsistency will push them away. Balance, here we come again...

The excuse of removing it for not having to maintain it is not valid, since Canonical is spending many resources on groping around in a lot of directions way more resource-consuming (and sometimes pointless, such as HUD, considering it's a LTS release).

I've always supported or found my way around the orientation taken in Ubuntu, but removing this would be the dead end for me, the one blocking obstacle making me switch, because of it's very negative impact on my workflow, even if it may seem insignificant. So please do something about this decision.

[Aleve Sicofante (sicofante)]

"I've always supported or found my way around the orientation taken in Ubuntu, but removing this would be the dead end for me, the one blocking obstacle making me switch, because of it's very negative impact on my workflow, even if it may seem insignificant. So please do something about this decision."

I don't mean to threaten Ubuntu as I'm sure Bertrandel doesn't mean either, but I'd like to add a consideration. Maybe this won't stop me from using Ubuntu (although now that it'll behave exactly the same as OS X in this regard, I might actually boot into OS X more often and gradually leave Ubuntu), but the most worrying thing for me is that it shows a line of thought that definitely would make me leave. As Bertrandel said: you might gain new users by dumbing down the OS, but it will be at the cost of losing more seasoned users. Don't forget that users are new for just a few months. Probably when the next release arrives, the new user isn't new anymore. If you keep changing Ubuntu's behavior at every release, you'll lose users at a rate that might be even higher than the adoption rate.

That's not clever.

[shane (shane-animail)]

It just seems natural to me that if the desktop is empty, then you may well be wanting to launch an app or do some work of some kind so it makes perfect sense for the launcher to be there, ready and waiting.
Then when you have launched your app, it moves out of the way so you can fully concentrate and maximize the screen space.

The autohide behaviour at the moment seems pretty iffy and unpredictable. I find the launcher takes more effort to show than it should when I WANT it to show, yet when I overshoot the back button in chromium and nudge the edge of the screen, the launcher shows instantly.

[Corey Kearney (snkiz-deactivatedaccount)]

@shane don't tell'em autohide is glitchy. Canonical is lible to rip that out to.

[João Guilherme Moraes Amendola (mx-joaoo)]

It was the best mode to use unity, it's the reason for my install, sadly it isnt available for now.

I hope the devs make a clever decision and re-implement this function for unity.

[Zies McDoom (jasonflindt)]

If the launcher auto hide all the time why have it , i think it might aswell be relocated to the top bar , Since it auto hides how does a noob find it ?. The dash is now a nightmare , to many clicks to do any thing . It supossed to be noob Friendly {My sister cant use it } . The Lens,s have no names {Not Noob Friendly} , the scopes are not open in the home lens . The right click on the ubuntu button would be better as the home lens with Home folder then apps We dont need resent apps becouse if they were used regularly we would just dock them in the launcher. The lens icons would be better represented like the scopes.

[Shannon Black (shannon-netforge)]

I get the choice to remove dodge windows for bug reasons during an LTS .. But seriously it was one of the best features in oneiric and natty. Please make a grand return in 12.04.1 or 12.10 when bugs can be clearly sorted ..

[Corey Kearney (snkiz-deactivatedaccount)]

Well the remove of the doge has caused at least ten or fifteen more "critical" bugs to appear, its pretty clear the whole hide code is a mess. Something drastic is going to have to happen in the next 25 days. Or else 12.04 will need to be pushed back, they'll have to revert the change, or simply put out another buggy as hell release. But its ok, this one's LTS won't happen right?

[Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl)]

@Shannon, we have all-new best features in 12.04 ;)

[Aleve Sicofante (sicofante)]

"we have all-new best features in 12.04 ;)"

I can't believe this is all you have to say here.

[jsevi83 (jsevi83)]

I understand they prefer to change the default behaviour to always visible, but why removing the option dodge-windows? That was the previous default behaviour and most users are used to that. I don't think taking away users choice is the right way to do things...

[Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl)]

The rest has already been said, and now it remains only to tease those
who haven't read it ;)

[Corey Kearney (snkiz-deactivatedaccount)]

wow mark that's uncalled for I just lost a lot of respect for you

[them par (thmanoy)]

What is the real reason for removing dodge-windows feature (removing, not just making it non-default)? I don't think it was buggy. I use Oneiric since November (two months after discovering linux). I liked this feature. I use a laptop and I need the space. Auto-hide is not good because when you log in or you don't have any windows open you need the launcher to launch an application. It is very annoying to log in and to see no launcher. I think I will stay with Oneiric forever... Ok, I won't, but I have no idea how I will become used to auto-hide.

[Ego (egogratis)]

Please listen to users. We would not persist so much if we would not believe in this.

I agree completely Ubuntu 12.04 has all-new best features and everybody should upgrade to it on release date. Compiz and Unity and Unity Greeter all are better then before, bluetooth will work and it did not in Ubuntu 11.10 it will be LTS release supported for long long time it will do power management much better, mutli-monitor too it will be something it was meant to be when Unity was introduced and much much more.

But i just can't agree and find it is a huge step back:

-Removing dodge launcher mode (alike)
-Changing Compiz scale behavior in a way you have to think where on other workspaces opened windows exist.

[icb410 (ian-berke)]

I 100% agree... I can't stand the new algorithm for the auto-hide since it relies on moving the mouse past the edge to activate. I have tried turning up the sensitivity, but still have to hit the side more than once! I want my dodge windows/intellihide back!

So far every other part of the new unity at 12.04 experience I love. Please fix this!

[Andrei Tatar (andrei-ttr)]

Just giving my 2 cents in, i agree that for some users the launcher suddenly hiding would be confusing, but i say "Dodge active window" and "Dodge all windows" should still be available as options (selectable through ccsm, ubuntu tweak, what have you, for the poweruser) and just set the default to never hide. In this way we can avoid confusing users while still giving power of customization to people who know what dodge is and like its behaviour.
I honestly don't see any benefit from actually removing the dodge code from unity.

[Zies McDoom (jasonflindt)]

Who Does the testing . Real world users from all different enviroments or Sheltered team members focused only on the desktop in there own cubical enviroment ?

[shane (shane-animail)]

From what I have read previously, around 10-20 test subjects from all walks of life and varying computer experience given various tasks to try and write down their feedback on how they got on with said tasks (writing an email, launching a web browser, viewing a photo etc I imagine).

I have also read about some 60 minute tests where subjects are sat in front of unity for an hour to see how quickly they take to it.

Not sure what kind of tests were used to decide the dodge thing.

[Danillo (danillo)]

About the usability testings, Charline Poirier from the design team is sharing their methodology in the Canonical Design blog: http://design.canonical.com/2012/03/about-usability-testing-recruiting/

[Vipin (vipinmatthews)]

i like to keep the launcher out of my way when i am working. that said, dodge windows was the perfect option for me. the launcher popped up only when i wanted it.

now that dodge windows option is down, all i am left with is the autohide launcher option. the problem with that is the launcher is not present when the computer turns on. i know that it is there but my father doesn't. he just sits there thinking that the booting process has not completed. this is a serious usability problem.

the always show behaviour of the launcher is directly contradicting the statement " Unity: A desktop experience designed for efficiency of space and interaction." this was the design principle that i loved in unity.

please bring back the doge windows if possible. otherwise at least implement this maximised windows version. it is not perfect but it will do..

[Carl Ansell (afccarl1994)]

Adding autohide on window maximise would fix bug 873541.

At present, a new user will either see misaligned window controls on fullscreen windows (bug 873541), or an empty desktop if they set the launcher to always hide.

Surely fullscreen windows that appear 'broken' isn't a good thing for a new user to see, particularly in an LTS release. If this was added, it would fix this bug, at least until a more elegant solution could be implemented.

[Stéphane Guillou (stephane-guillou)]

More than 200 people have the same "opinion".

Maybe you guys should do something about it and give the choice to users.

[papukaija (papukaija)]

Could you please explain why this feature won't be implemented? Thanks.

[Jim (overcow)]

The dodge feature was brilliant. It seems to me that the goal is to focus on new users and to assume that skilled computer users will accept what they are given. This is the process Microsoft followed with Vista. I've been trying to get comfortable with Gnome 3. Time will tell where I will end up on this.

Hide on Maximize would meet my minimal needs. Bringing "Dodge windows" back would be awesome but I don't think power users are important for the 12.04 release at least.

[[e-mail] (damianatorrpm)]

Adrian Wechner (adrian-wechner) wrote on 2012-02-26: #22
personally, i have no problem with default behaviours change. thats canonicals decision. but starting from a "default" feature and ending in "feature removed" is too hard. you can't hard-remove a feature which has been THE DEFAULT since a year. i you want change the default config, but let the possibility that people who want can change the config to the old default. thx

+1

To all who want that behaviour AS AN OPTION back +1

If this is not going to happen until 12.04 final - You leave me no choice rather to uninstall on my pc and laptop and on the laptop of 3 friends of mine whom I installed ubuntu to install them opensuse and remove ubuntu since the best option was removed. My friends were saying why did you upgrade us to that beta stuff - the launcher sucks now!

[Claudiu Vlad (claudiu-vlad)]

I chose the "always show" option and I am quite happy with it.

All maximized windows dont go under or over panel so the panel is really OK.

Try it yourself,

Cheers,

On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 4:41 PM, <email address hidden> <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Adrian Wechner (adrian-wechner) wrote on 2012-02-26: #22
> personally, i have no problem with default behaviours change. thats
> canonicals decision. but starting from a "default" feature and ending in
> "feature removed" is too hard. you can't hard-remove a feature which has
> been THE DEFAULT since a year. i you want change the default config, but
> let the possibility that people who want can change the config to the old
> default. thx
>
> +1
>
> To all who want that behaviour AS AN OPTION back +1
>
> If this is not going to happen until 12.04 final - You leave me no
> choice rather to uninstall on my pc and laptop and on the laptop of 3
> friends of mine whom I installed ubuntu to install them opensuse and
> remove ubuntu since the best option was removed. My friends were saying
> why did you upgrade us to that beta stuff - the launcher sucks now!
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930148
>
> Title:
> Dodge windows is down but what about making the launcher autohide only
> on maximised apps ?
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/930148/+subscriptions
>

[[e-mail] (damianatorrpm)]

Of course I tried. It sucks badly

[Tsvetko (tsvetko.tsvetkov-deactivatedaccount)]

Check out these articles.

Get Dodge Windows Unity Autohide Behaviour For Maximized Windows In Ubuntu 12.04
http://www.webupd8.org/2012/03/get-dodge-windows-unity-autohide.html

Real Window Dodge Unity Launcher Bahaviour For Ubuntu 12.04
http://www.webupd8.org/2012/04/real-window-dodge-unity-launcher.html

[Sera (seraphim6x7)]

The "always show" option is really not efficient on "modern" laptop screens and doesn't present a clean interface. The "authohide" option is far from pleasant due to bug #986067.

The dodge scripts above are similar in function to the old dodge behaviour but causes fullscreen windows to resize (which is slow and very noticable) and do so with inconsistent timing (those scripts every n seconds instead of being event-based) which is confusing.

[[e-mail] (damianatorrpm)]

You do change the default for some reason. YOU DO NOT DELETE THE OLD DEFAULT

[[e-mail] (damianatorrpm)]

Here the FIX for you dear developers. Reverse commits 1929, 1930 and 1933.

For all poor unity users, you have to download these 3 filed and compile unity from source (http://askubuntu.com/questions/28470/how-do-i-build-unity-from-source) and revert these so called patches. Copy these files into the source dir and revert the patches with patch -F3 -p0 <./$name_of_patch where you need to do that for each of the 3 files.
You will get prompted and have to answer yes to all questions.

[Joel Crane (fuelcell250)]

Ouch, this one hurts on my Netbook. With auto-hide off, the launcher takes up valuable screen real-estate. With auto-hide off, I have to try several times to to invoke the launcher, because I'm using a touchpad mouse the majority of the time.

Changing the default to always show makes perfect sense if new users were having trouble with it, but removing Window Dodge completely doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Unfortunately, I'll be downgrading to Ubuntu 11.10, because the removal of Window Dodge has severely impacted the usability of Ubuntu in a negative way.

[Maxim Kuznetsov (mackuzzz)]

#2, You've said all my thoughts!

In 11.10 Launcher was acting like a gentleman, but now it stays even when I don't want to see it or hides when I need it. And there is no any choice. Scripts are slow and patches are unacceptable for simple users.
The most comfortable shell interface became useless.

[Maxim Kuznetsov (mackuzzz)]

If it's politically incorrect to return this option, can you, dear developers, make a PPA with patch or some script to return it for advanced users?

[Maxim Kuznetsov (mackuzzz)]

And one more thing.
If you, dear developers want me to use autohiding that I hate with all of my heart, make this option stable! Because for now I must to play with mouse for several times, moving it to the left and back before the Launcher desides to show itself :E

[Tsvetko (tsvetko.tsvetkov-deactivatedaccount)]

Unfortunately, removing dodge is a huge setback for small netbook screens. On my 27' monitor I have disabled dodge in Ubuntu 11.10. However, on a netbook screen it is a complete different story...

[Peter Kennes (mgt2000)]

Have a look at this solution:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1967822

[shane (shane-animail)]

It is a workaround, not really a solution though...

On 29 April 2012 09:32, Peter Kennes <email address hidden> wrote:

> Have a look at this solution:
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1967822
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930148
>
> Title:
> Dodge windows is down but what about making the launcher autohide only
> on maximised apps ?
>
> Status in Ayatana Design:
> Opinion
> Status in Unity:
> Opinion
> Status in “unity” package in Ubuntu:
> Opinion
>
> Bug description:
> I was using dodge windows in unity mainly because it make the launcher
> go out of the way on maximized apps (like Kdenlive who is benefiting a
> lot from unity's capability of making the most space usable).
>
> But I was never hiding the launcher when I use "windowed" apps (like
> firefox on the left and openoffice on the righ part of the screen)
> because it helped me a lot switching with something else rapidly (like
> thunderbird, pidgin, etc)
>
> What I think to be a good third behavior of the launcher is to hide
> itself when one app or more are fullscreen and if they are not, being
> always there.
>
> There is some corner cases like if one app is full screen and the
> focused app is not. But I think this will not bring some crazy bugs
> like dodging windows did in the past.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/930148/+subscriptions
>

[Isaac Joseph (isaacj87)]

I was disappointed that this feature was removed completely. If anything, it should be kept in CCSM so advanced users can activate it should they want it.

I wrote the tutorial metioned in mgt2000's comment (#149). I noticed there is a lot of demand for 'dodge windows' and after becoming so accustomed to it, having it removed disrupted my workflow greatly. If it could be re-added to Ubuntu 12.10, but tucked neatly away, it would make a lot of users happy.

[shane (shane-animail)]

Alas, nobody from the design team has responded either here on the mailing lists about Dodge so it seems it is gone and forgotten as far as their concerned and all suggestions regarding it are now being ignored completely so it's pretty pointless adding anything else here.

[shane (shane-animail)]

nobody has responded recently I should have said.

[Billy Barnes (webarnes)]

I'm curious about whether any alternatives were tested to see if there was a way to implement dodge that was not confusing. What exactly confused them? What did they do when the launchbar disappeared? I would think most would simply unmaximize the app. Unless they couldn't do that because the window controls disappeared.

Dodge when maximizing, at least, just strikes me as a great feature that deserves some effort to try and communicate it to the user. Perhaps users would figure it out if the animation were different, or if the last few pixels of the launchbar remained visible. I just cannot believe there is no way to free up that space and remove distractions from a maximized app without confusing the user.

In addition, both Mac OS Lion and Windows 8 are pushing similar features (Lion has fullscreen, Windows 8 has an autohiding charm menu). So users coming from other platforms will soon get used to the idea that taskbars/launchbars/docks can be covered or hidden.

[Aleve Sicofante (sicofante)]

Changed to "opinion"?

Will you guys at least explain what that means? Looks pretty insulting to me. We have shown you clearly how wrong you are, from every possible point of view. Yet you can't come with a single reason why this proposal is wrong beyond the poor excuse of NUPUs testing (which isn't even openly documented). Yet you call this "opinion"?

Thanks god this is open source and some rational people out there respond to your finger with code. Here's it: http://admin.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/04/enable-dodge-unity-launcher-ubuntu-12-04/#comment-514487779

[Ego (egogratis)]

After using Ubuntu 12.04 for some time i don't find any real benefit that would be directly connected with removal of Dodge Windows and Unity 3D in Ubuntu 11.10 offered user better experience. I hope at least developers are happy now because they don't have to spend any more time working on the feature?

Always hide mode was never a real option and now sure we can look at launcher all the time on the desktop and the fun thing is that if user uses wallpaper of certain color then the whole launcher turns in some fugly color and when user maximizes program window not only the launcher is still there the fugly color is "fun" to watch too, probably the result of the fact now the developers have more time to work on things that matter the most to the users?

[Danny Adair (danny-adair)]

@Ego - just ignore the sad excuses, set the launcher to auto-hide with minimum sensitivity, and install cairo-dock and be done with it. "Dodge Windows" (a misnomer proving this feature is misunderstood - it's the real "auto-hide") with very fine-grained settings (only hide when active window overlaps etc.) will give you what you want, still have [Super] for bringing up Dash.
Some wasted resources, but you don't have to put up with the humbug launcher behaviour.

[Ego (egogratis)]

Yes i see a lot of user using docks lately and having Launcher in "always hide" mode. It kind of beats the purpose what Unity tried to do and in my opinion did until Ubuntu 12.04.

It did something no other DE offered but now it just offers launcher moved to the left side of the screen and sometimes with wallpaper combination fugly colors too (yikes).

[Ego (egogratis)]

Bring back the Dodge Windows by default please. :D

[Carlos Ravelo (gandazgul)]

Put back the option, just don't set it as default and don't expose it on the system settings but leave it as an option in the compiz settings so that advanced users who are not confused by it can re-enable it. This is a highly annoying regression.

[[e-mail] (damianatorrpm)]

+1 for Carlos

2012/10/19 Carlos Ravelo <email address hidden>:
> Put back the option, just don't set it as default and don't expose it on
> the system settings but leave it as an option in the compiz settings so
> that advanced users who are not confused by it can re-enable it. This is
> a highly annoying regression.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930148
>
> Title:
> Dodge windows is down but what about making the launcher autohide only
> on maximised apps ?
>
> Status in Ayatana Design:
> Opinion
> Status in Unity:
> Opinion
> Status in “unity” package in Ubuntu:
> Opinion
>
> Bug description:
> I was using dodge windows in unity mainly because it make the launcher
> go out of the way on maximized apps (like Kdenlive who is benefiting a
> lot from unity's capability of making the most space usable).
>
> But I was never hiding the launcher when I use "windowed" apps (like
> firefox on the left and openoffice on the righ part of the screen)
> because it helped me a lot switching with something else rapidly (like
> thunderbird, pidgin, etc)
>
> What I think to be a good third behavior of the launcher is to hide
> itself when one app or more are fullscreen and if they are not, being
> always there.
>
> There is some corner cases like if one app is full screen and the
> focused app is not. But I think this will not bring some crazy bugs
> like dodging windows did in the past.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/930148/+subscriptions

[Nod Toung (nodtoung)]

The "Dodge Windows" hide mode is very useful for me. You Canonical guys please revert this feature back again. Don't make mistake.

[papukaija (papukaija)]

Bug statuses shouldn't be changes without an explanation. So can someone explain why this bug is marked as opinion? Otherwise I might follow the guidelines and just reopen this bug...

[Ego (egogratis)]

Now when you will have your own display server/compositor, Unity rewritten in Qt/QML, and more control on the display stack in general to make it work... I think now it's the time to push back code snippet that will enable Dodge Windows again.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

The attachment "1933_1932.diff" seems to be a patch. If it isn't, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are a member of the ~ubuntu-reviewers, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issues please contact him.]