GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 639884
Alt+Tab: the window to be selected isn't always obvious (especially on multiple monitors)
Last modified: 2021-07-05 14:06:03 UTC
Since the Alt+Tab popup only displays in the primary monitor it is sometimes difficult to have a quick grasp of which window is going to be selected when alt-tabbing, especially with multiple monitors since the window might be on a non-primary monitor and thus not under the user's direct grasp. Metacity displays a black rectangle where the to-be-selected window is, which is a nice "reminder". I propose that gnome-shell does something like metacity to catch the user's attention.
Created attachment 178651 [details] [review] altTab: highlight the window to be selected
Early versions of the shell did have both a fancy alt-tab selector and highlighting and what we found (or at least I found) was that the combination tended to distract the user. Like a lion attacking a herd of zebras, they had no idea where to look and missed their target.
I can certainly understand that, and for just one monitor I don't miss the window highlighting. But when I'm using my external 23" monitor attached the 13" laptop I do feel lost when alt-tabbing. Maybe the alt-tab popup should show up on both monitors? Something else? BTW, that patch was made just for fun and learning, it's by no means to be considered as is. I enjoy it myself though :-)
Comment on attachment 178651 [details] [review] altTab: highlight the window to be selected marking rejected to get off the patch review queue; if the design moves in this direction the patch can be revisited.
*** Bug 664172 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 665002 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
(In reply to comment #2) > Early versions of the shell did have both a fancy alt-tab selector and > highlighting and what we found (or at least I found) was that the combination > tended to distract the user. Like a lion attacking a herd of zebras, they had > no idea where to look and missed their target. If it's already been created then can't it be put in as an option instead of having it fixed all the time? I've seen other window managers do this with great success.
(In reply to comment #7) > If it's already been created then can't it be put in as an option instead of > having it fixed all the time? I've seen other window managers do this with > great success. You know, code that has been removed years ago would probably require as much work to bring back as writing it from scratch. But Rui's patch can become an extension if it doesn't become the default, which is exactly like having it as an option.
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