January 16, 2009 at 14:32Macbuntu :)
If you’re fed up with the appearance of the Gnome, you can easily diversify it, for example, by adding a taskbar in the Mack style:
(by clicking on the screenshot you can see the full screenshot)
I pulled the gnome’s main menu applet, calendar applet, desktop switching button - I like it, that on each table its reduced view is displayed, it is immediately clear that where, a little further the weather widget. Then the settings button for the Avant itself. Next are the buttons of running applications.
I think you've already noticed two firefox icons. This is not possible in a poppy. But the avant not only clones the poppy, its algorithm of work is something between the poppy dock and the classic taskbar like in Windows or the gnome. Each window has its own icon, for which it is easy and convenient to pull it out or vice versa hide it. Yes, clicking on the icon of the active window can minimize it to the dock. It is very convenient, in that each window is controlled by one button, which is always in one place, which means it is easy to find. No need to search among the drop-down group (even in Windows I always disable the grouping of buttons on the taskbar). Alas, there is a small bug in the current release: sometimes the application button closes after clicking on it and immediately opens at the end of the dock. On the application itself, on the dock and the rest of the gnome, this is not reflected at all - just the button moves and that's it.
I really liked that the authors seriously approached the project - a system of plug-ins and applets was developed. There is a detailed guide to creating add-ons.
One of the most interesting features is working with a picture on top of the program icon in the dock. For example, the download manager in Firefox can display the file download progress on the logo:
Or in the dynamics - see the video on this page .
Music players can display the time of the track or the cover of the current disc:
It is very convenient to work with gimp: each open file is displayed as a floating miniature above the dock. Beautiful and very convenient - you can immediately see where which file is open. The open screenshot in the gimp looked something like this:
This panel is implemented by Avant Window Navigator .
Installation in Ubuntu 8.10 is extremely simple: go to the package manager and install avant. Very detailed and with pictures described here .
I think you've already noticed two firefox icons. This is not possible in a poppy. But the avant not only clones the poppy, its algorithm of work is something between the poppy dock and the classic taskbar like in Windows or the gnome. Each window has its own icon, for which it is easy and convenient to pull it out or vice versa hide it. Yes, clicking on the icon of the active window can minimize it to the dock. It is very convenient, in that each window is controlled by one button, which is always in one place, which means it is easy to find. No need to search among the drop-down group (even in Windows I always disable the grouping of buttons on the taskbar). Alas, there is a small bug in the current release: sometimes the application button closes after clicking on it and immediately opens at the end of the dock. On the application itself, on the dock and the rest of the gnome, this is not reflected at all - just the button moves and that's it.
I really liked that the authors seriously approached the project - a system of plug-ins and applets was developed. There is a detailed guide to creating add-ons.
One of the most interesting features is working with a picture on top of the program icon in the dock. For example, the download manager in Firefox can display the file download progress on the logo:
Or in the dynamics - see the video on this page .
Music players can display the time of the track or the cover of the current disc:
It is very convenient to work with gimp: each open file is displayed as a floating miniature above the dock. Beautiful and very convenient - you can immediately see where which file is open. The open screenshot in the gimp looked something like this:
This panel is implemented by Avant Window Navigator .
Installation in Ubuntu 8.10 is extremely simple: go to the package manager and install avant. Very detailed and with pictures described here .