used to the bottom from early windows [98+se],so I like it there..I just do not know how to do it in Ubuntu 12.04.1LTS , which is a pain since it is a standard Svga monitor , not a wide screen HD display and takes away from open stuff in the desk top view and hot mail is so wide now it does not display correct . plus I like more then 1 site open . then I arrange my files on the right side of the desk so i just move an open window to the left to get to files . Next lcd with new vid card will have to be 4k capable I guess [dream?]

Hi there,

yea, you may be dreaming. But as I usually say: Nobody lives off their dreams. But those who dream are still alive.
Seriously, I haven't yet seen computer monitors with a resolution of more than 1920x1200, and if I had such a display, I might even consider using it in portrait orientation. Because whatever application I use - most of them call for more space in the vertical axis, whether it's web browsing, word processing, software development IDEs, and many more. Even watching videos on the PC monitor rarely requires more than 1024 pixels horizontally (that's DVD video in widescreen).

Currently I'm using 1600x1200 as the primary monitor, and 1280x1024 as the secondary. And already I'm becoming dainty thinking that 1600x1200 should be the absolute minimum. ;-)

[X] Doc CPU

NO panels ANYWHERE!

I use bashrun for lauching most programs. I don't have icons on the desktop - that is where conky is. I create aliases instead of shortcuts/icons. Somethings are bound to they keboard for quick access.

I HATE taskbars/panels!!!


>= 2560x1600

I prefer the bottom, and auto-hide it. (That's where I learned to look for it when [IIRC] I started with a TRS-80.)

I also have a fairly rare mental abnormality: My visual memory (and visualization ability) is almost completely missing, so "icons" are, for me, usually meaningless. My desktop, by default, is just my wallpaper, which I change automatically, in random order, independently, on each screen and workspace, every minute.

On the bottom. Tried it on the top and just didn't like it.

Bottom... because a quick mouse move to the total top-right plus a mouse click will close the current maximized window. Just got used to it..

When CDE came out it was on the bottom. I moved from CDE to KDE and have lost some of the 'CDE' features over time such as the "filing cabinet" (ready a folder in the panel). I would like to see "shared-x" make a come-back.

It varies a bit over time but I:
Always have:1x panel at either top or bottom, always shown, with menus, windows-list, taskbar/indicators, workspace-switcher, ...;
And sometimes, only sometimes + 1x panel/dock with quick-launchers (and possibly some monitoring applets) at the side (usually left), auto-hiding.

I voted "Other"

I've been experimenting with Unity lately, with the vertical sidebar. Not too happy with it.

Also, I agree resolution matters a LOT!

As someone who's been literally obsessed with this topic for the past years, spent tireless amounts of comparing which desktop metaphor is better and did much research of my own I can only conclude that a panel in the top is the best option for many reasons.

I see most of you just got used to having the panel in the bottom, not because it's convenient or functional, but because it's habit.

Microsoft never properly understood the desktop paradigm, not only with it's crap system, but with the placement of elements on the desktop, whereas Jobs of Apple understood it perfectly clear and built a desktop (Apple OS X) that solved all desktop usability questions in human history and became loved by millions of people, mostly designers, around the world. Why? Because not only it showcases a perfect harmony of elements, but it's mainly functional.

Take it from this perspective: everything you do, every app you interact with has all of its controls in the top of its window. Any web browser is a good example with the File, Edit, View... and other options in the top of the window, mostly the top left; or any other application for that matter, so what this means is, if you have your panel in the top you don't need to travel from one edge of the screen to the other like in Windows having to venture to the bottom of the screen to multitask by selecting another app and then again to the top to choose an option from the app's window and then go to the bottom of the screen again to... this is highly inefficient.

Desktops like Xfce are most productive in this matter, with one panel in the top that is very compact, allowing you to display not only all windows, but also indicators at the same time.

The windows panel is very clunky and can quickly become overfilled with icons and indicators and you cannot have more than one.

Panels on sides can disrupt the way some apps work/display, games in particular, and even though screens are usually wider, they need that working space, even though we are talking sometimes only about a few pixels here and there, but they matter. If you decide to use panels in vertical mode, it's best to use intellihide/autohide.

To conclude this, I'm not an Apple fan and I've never used a single Apple product, but their desktop metaphor is the best, because it can argue in the most productive ways regardless what anyone says. It's why Canonical adopted much of it in Unity.

I like Ubuntu panel

Bottom, mostly out of habit, partially because it's out of the way down there.

ping Inoki - The very first OSX I saw had the bar at the bottom with the AutoZoom Mouseover function. That seemed a brilliant solution but by then I had already spent far too many years in OS/2 with the bar on top. Warp 3 also had a fast access dock at the bottom but once the top bar is properly setup that bottom quick access bar became superfluous.

Before OS/2 I used shells like Norton Commander and PCTools PCShell, all of which had menuitems on top with a list of Fx fast access on the bottom. So, between OS/2 and DOS habituation, today I still use Linux somewhat that way with autohide bar on top and a few common apps like Yakuake, available from Fx buttons.

Mate, LXDE, and XFCE all get set up the same: two panels, one on the bottom, one on the right.

Every few weeks the panel gets moved to the opposite edge, because why not? There's no such thing as correct UI.