Re: [Usability] Idea for HIG: Ctrl+W to close active tab, if no tabs close window

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Fri, 7 Apr 2006, Calum Benson wrote:

> Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 16:31:44 +0100
> From: Calum Benson <Calum Benson Sun COM>
> To: "[ISO-8859-1] BJörn Lindqvist" <bjourne gmail com>
> Cc: usability gnome org
> Subject: Re: [Usability] Idea for HIG: Ctrl+W to close active tab,
>      if no tabs close window

I've always found this area quite confusing, especially when you look at
Close and Quit.

(I always and absolutely want to be about to use Ctrl+Q to quit even if
you chose not to have a menu item for it.  I'm also not sure anyone should
be using Ctlr+W for anything other than close but I'll have to think about
it some more before try to patch Serpentine.)

> On Fri, 2006-04-07 at 14:54 +0000, BJörn Lindqvist wrote:
> > I have noticed that there are two quite important keybindings in GNOME
> > that behave inconsistent.

(behave inconsistently)

> > First ctrl-w.
>
> (What was the second one, btw...?)
>
> I agree we need to be more consistent, but I think there are /possibly/
> two distinct cases: those apps where it is useful to leave the window
> open with no tabs, and those where it is not.

Reopening an application can be annoying, mostly because some applications
are terribly slow to start.  (Calum may have other reasons, if so I'd be
interested to hear them.)  These applciations need to be fixed.  (I'm
pretty sure this is what was discussed when this came up before.)
Applications should not be front loading all the information they might
ever possibly need.  Not only does it make for a slower startup - rather
than a few smaller penalties as needed - it means resources are wasted on
features you might never use.

I'd prefer applications to start up faster first and foremost but it
doesn't preclude making other improvements too.

sincerely

Alan Horkan
http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/