I have used Linux on and off for 15 years. I consider myself a casual user and stuck to the mainstream DEs (mostly KDE, XFCE and some Cinnamon). Gnome has been a hurdle for me before and after the big version 40 changes, I couldn’t get my head around how they handled the workspaces and workflow. At some point I I tried out an extension hat changed all of it.
It moves the workspaces to a vertical panel and the programs onto a horizontal panel. In a workspace you can view the programs full screen or tile them.
Several Programs inside a Workspace. It’s basically they same way Gnome works. However for some reason it just makes sense in my brain. No idea why. (I’m looking at WMs that work in a similar way atm. Maybe I’ll take the plunge away from DEs at some point)
Has such a small change ever saved a Desktop Environment for you and is essential if you ever install it?
Not exactly unusable, but when wobbly windows aren’t activated it unironically feels broken to me.
KDE is just pefect for me.
Gnome’s window sizing has always looked comical on my display. So I fix it with Orchis gtk compact theme. Also GSconnect is an irreplaceable utility for me.
I’m not sure that I’d call vanilla GNOME (or any modern DE) unusable for me, but Tiling Assistant is really great. I’m looking forward to GNOME’s upcoming tiling changes so I no longer have to rely on an extension to give me quarter tiling.
Dash to Dock is also nice, though I don’t necessarily mind having to hit Super to see my dock.
i3/window manager. When I log in to gnome I feel like I’m being dragged through molasses. I have an anxiety attack every time I see a window floating in front of another. My wrists creak and crack as my hand dances between keyboard and mouse. It almost lessens my interaction with the linux community because so many people are passionate about and discuss desktop environments and yet I don’t really see one unless I’m having issues.
GNOME on Fedora 39 with the Pop Shell extension installed. For me, perfection :)
I frequently switch between audio outputs (headset for calls and focused gaming, speakers for other use). I installed an audio switcher applet to make changing that easier and faster. But cosmic is perfect for me other than that.
On Gnome,
- Workspace Matrix: provides a customizable n x m workspace grid, and a customizable pop-up that shows live preview of all workspaces and their windows (incl. e.g. video playing).
- Forge: windows tiling
(screenshot from Workspace Matrix extension site, not mine)In combination, these two features allow me very quick overview of everything I have open, presented in an ordered fashion, allowing quick, keyboard-driven application change.
I’m not aware that the exact features of Workspace Matrix are reproduced by anything in any other DE.
KDE plasma has it natively.
I don’t think it does. It didn’t when I checked a year ago, at least. You couldn’t get live previews on the workspace pop-up.
Can you point me to the feature you refer to? If it really does this, it would be a major game changer for me.
Oh, true, you don’t get previews of the windows inside. However, that shouldn’t be very hard to implement, so you might have luck if you ask for it to be in Plasma 6.
Thanks for the suggestion! It could sound like the timing might be a bit unfortunate, though: https://planet.kde.org/nate-graham-2023-11-25-this-week-in-kde-the-plasma-6-feature-freeze-approaches/
Have you found a window manager that works like Material Shell yet? I’d also be interested in switching to one
Tiling addons. I like having a full DE, but I also want tiling, so Pop!_Shell on GNOME and Polonium on KDE are invaluable (and yes, COSMIC looks really promising).
I wish we had this already
https://blogs.gnome.org/tbernard/2023/07/26/rethinking-window-management/
Focus follows mouse. And programs that raise the window when you click in it? Unusable.
Have you found a window manager that works like Material Shell yet? I’d also be interested in switching to one
