Window Management System Getting Revamped on GNOME

Rohan Timalsina

August 14, 2023 - TuxCare expert team

GNOME’s window management functionality has remained largely unchanged for quite a while, maintaining its simplicity. Therefore, during the GUADEC 2023 conference, GNOME developer Tobias Bernard has come up with a new concept that aims to replace GNOME’s current traditional window management system in a future release.

For those familiar with GNOME, the existing windowing system opens each new window on top of the previous one in a cascading manner. While this system is functional, it can become cluttered when multiple windows are opened simultaneously.

The GNOME team is working on a solution for users who routinely manage numerous open windows at once to address this issue. Another problem with the current windowing system arises when the stacking is interrupted, causing newly opened windows to cover the first window opened.

Utilizing a tiling window manager is one method to reduce these issues. However, tiling window managers have drawbacks, such as placing new windows in arbitrary positions or resizing them to an impractical narrowness.

In response to user feedback and to make the system more user-friendly, especially for those new to computing, the GNOME developers are planning a new window management system with a mosaic behavior.

The new idea aims to establish a new window management strategy in GNOME, concentrating on three crucial goals. Firstly, it aims to be autonomous with an option for user-side adjustment. Second, it will incorporate workspaces into the overall workflow.

Lastly, it aims to make access to more comprehensive window metadata available, providing richer functionalities and insights. This includes three distinct layout states for window management: Mosaic, Edge Tiling, and Floating. For detailed information, read the original announcement.

Conclusion

It will take time to implement it in a future release of the GNOME desktop environment since the developers must take into account a number of variables, including the content of a window, the maximum size of a window, and the ideal window size for an application to function and appear at its best.

To ensure that this new windowing system meets the needs of a broad range of users, the GNOME developers will need to conduct in-depth user research and test various scenarios. This undertaking could take several months or even years.

The sources for this article include a story from 9to5Linux.

Summary