What we know is that users of current Windows systems will not be able to get their hands on the new Metro UI officially. And that’s where third party applications come into play.

The Mosaic Project is not trying to copy the Windows 8 UI completely. It has quite a few differences, for instance that it is more or less widget based.

The developers have released an early alpha version of the user interface, which means that users need to be cautious when running the program. We suggest to create a system restore point or a system backup before doing so. Another option would be to run the program in a virtual machine.

As for the requirements: Mosaic requires the Windows 7 operating system and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0. Sorry XP and Vista users.

One interesting aspect is that you only need to run the executable after unpacking the release on the operating system to switch immediately to the new user interface. It runs in fullscreen, which means that you won’t have access to your taskbar or desktop icons afterwards. The program will display the taskbar when certain programs are executed though.

Configuration of the interface is dead easy. A click on the right arrow opens all options and settings. Users can basically add three different types of modules to the interface. First widgets, then applications and lastly websites.

Each module is represented by an icon in the user interface.

Some, like the widgets can be configured and refreshed with a right-click. Here it is for instance possible to select the city or location that you want to see the weather report for, or to configure your Gmail or Hotmail email accounts to receive notifications when new emails arrive in your inbox.

Widgets can be moved around via drag and drop.

It definitely takes some getting used to time to work without a taskbar for most of the time. What’s missing is an easy option to switch between the mosaic user interface and the standard Windows desktop. An alternative would be an option to display the Windows taskbar at all times.

The alpha version stopped responding at times on the 64-bit Windows 7 Professional system. This unfortunately had the result that the changes made in the session were not saved correctly.

Windows 7 users interested in trying a new user interface for their system, can download Mosaic from the project website over at Codeplex. The project shows lots of promise for an alpha version, and it will be interesting to see how the beta and final version of the program turn out.

The navigation bar is displayed automatically if the mouse is moved to the upper edge of the browser window. Some users may want to customize the minimalistic user interface. Maybe they want the address bar to be visible at all times, or the add-on bar. Customization is however not an option for Firefox’s full screen mode.

The restartless Firefox add-on MinUI changes that by offering the missing customization options. The extension maps its function to the Ctrl key on the computer keyboard. Activation enables or disables the minimalistic user interface. All navigational elements are hidden by default except for the scrollbar. This is similar to Firefox’s built-in F11 function.

The Tools > MinUI menu contains options to hide or display interface elements in the minimalistic mode. This is the biggest advantage of the add-on over Firefox’s F11 feature.

Available for selection are the following items:

• Menu Bar
• Navigation Toolbar
• Bookmarks Toolbar
• Add-On Bar
• Tabs Toolbar
• Sidebar
• App Button
• Scrollbars

It is for instance possible to display the address bar or bookmark’s toolbar at all times, or to hide the scrollbar as well when the browser enters minimalistic mode. Notice that one thing’s missing from the list? Right, the title bar is not listed which means that it will always be displayed. The developer might want to include the title bar in a future update.

The example below demonstrates the power of the add-on. Only the tabbar is displayed, everything else including the scrollbar has been removed from the interface.

The core benefit of MinUI is that it is possible to selectively enable or disable elements for the minimalistic interface. Users who prefer that everything is hidden in the mode do not really need the extension, users who need a specific element visible at all times may want to give it a try as it offers to do exactly that.

MinUI is available from the official Mozilla Firefox add-on repository. The add-on is only compatible with the Firefox 4 web browser.

The following implementations are suggestions and ideas; They may be implemented in this way, in a different way or not at all in the Firefox 5 web browser.

Site-specific tabs

Site-specific tabs are basically what pinned files are for the Windows 7 operating system; A way to quickly access site features without using the site navigation initially. This may or may not be useful depending on the site’s navigational structure. There does not seem to be a gain if the navigational elements displayed on the tab menu are also displayed prominently on page. It could become interesting if users could add pages of the site to the menu. (via)

Block third party add-ons, add-on manager changes

This change is in my opinion the most exciting one. A problem with current versions of Firefox is that it automatically enabled add-ons and plugins that are installed by third parties. The user gets no information about those add-ons and has no option to block them. Even worse, those add-ons usually cannot be uninstalled, only disabled.

The new add-on manager automatically disables add-ons that are installed by third parties. It is likely that the developers will launch the add-on manager automatically whenever that happens to give the user an opportunity to activate the add-ons. Please note that the screenshot above shows a window while the regular add-on manager is displayed in a tab.

Add-ons that are installed by the user but not compatible with the version of Firefox yet will automatically be enabled when they become compatible.

It is not clear yet if the developers plan to use the system for plugins as well. (via)

Search engine field

The default size of the search engine could be increased to 240 pixels. Search engines appear color coded when the user enters a search query or a new engine is selected. Search field contents could become tab specific in Firefox 5. (via)

Promoting Firefox Sync

Firefox sync offers to sync passwords and other information. The idea is to promote the feature so that more users notice it and start using it. (via)

All of the user interface changes are proposed. Some, like the ability to block third party add-ons are features that users have requested for years, others, like site specific tabs may need refinements to become useful. (via)

One of the easiest ways to simplify use is the minimize the amount of windows open when working with The GIMP. By default The GIMP 2.4 opens with two windows: Utility Window, and Toolbox. If you are a GIMP power user you know the tools in both windows can be necessary. But it is not necessary to have both windows open in order to take advantage of all of the tools. “How?” You ask? Simple…by docking tabs.

What I am going to show you is how to add utility tabs into the Toolbox window so you can close the Utilities window. This will clean up the user interface as well as keep the user less confused. I am going to be using The GIMP 2.4 because it is more widely used.

Utilities Window

The first thing you should do is check to see what tabs you use in your Utilites window. I almost always use the Layers tab and the Colors tab. As you can see (in the image to the left) the Utilities window is open with the Layers, Channels, Paths, and Undo tabs on top and the Colors, Brushes, Patterns, and Gradients tabs on bottom. Of those tabs the Layers and the Colors tabs are most useful to me. Naturally other tabs will be more or less useful to other users (depending upon your needs).

Once you know the exact tabs you need to use you can close the Utilities window because you are going to add those tabs to the Toolbox window.

Now, move on over to the Toolbox window (see the image to the right).

Toolbox

Near the center of the window you will see a right-pointing arrow. If you click this arrow you will see a sub-menu that offers an Add Tab option. Within the Add Tab sub menu you will find a long list of possible tabs you can add to the window. From that list select the tabs you want to add (one at a time) to the Toolbox window. Once you have configured this window exactly how you want it, it will open up that way every time you start up The Gimp.

Simpler GIMP

As you can see, in the image to the left, The GIMP can be used with only a single window open. In the lower section the utilities I need to work with all appear in their own tabs. Now I can work with The GIMP and only have a single window (outside of the working image window) open.

Final Thoughts

The GIMP (and its interface) has been much maligned over the years for being overly complex and busy. Many of these complains stem from a simple lack of familiarity. But even being unfamiliar with the interface doesn’t make The GIMP’s UI unfriendly. Because the interface can be configured to better suit your needs, I would venture to say it is one of the more user-friendly interfaces available. Some times it is just a matter of taking the time to get to know the UI and customizing it to fit your needs and your style. Once you have done this, you might find The GIMP to be one of the best image applications available.

So let’s break The GIMP’s UI into its constituent pieces and make using this excellent application a snap to use.

When you open up The GIMP it defaults to three main windows: The Main Window, The Toolbox, and the Utility Window. These are the meat and potatoes of The GIMP. To get a better understanding of the whole we have to break it down into its pieces. We’ll start with the Main Window.

Main Window

Main Window

From the Main Window all actions can take place. But the main action with the Main Window is opening and saving images. If you were a user prior to 2.6 this is where you will notice the biggest changes. One of the issues new users had was that once an image was opened they didn’t realize there was a right click mouse menu they could use when they were working within images.

Mouse Menu

As you can see, in the image above, the Main Window now has a built in menu. Prior to 2.6 the Main Window didn’t include this menu. To get to this menu you had to click on the right mouse button. Now 2.6 has both. This menu contains pretty much everything you need to work with your image. But you don’t have to count on just these menus for your work.

The Main Menu has one other very nice feature. You can drag an image into this window to open the image. To do this open up Nautilus (or Dolphin, or Konqueror), select an image, and drag the selected image to the Main Window. When an image opens the Main Window seems to disappear. What really happens is the images opens up within the Main Window. When you close the image the Main Window returns to its former self.

Toolbox

The next window is the toolbox (as shown in the image to the right). This window allows you to quickly access all of the tools available.

Toolbox

When you click on a tool the lower half of the window will change according to the tool. This window is handy to keep open because it gives you fast access to every tool available. Another nice option with the Toolbox is, when you customize a particular tool you can save your customizations. The bottom left corner is the save button for saving tool customizations. You can also customize this window. The small left-pointing arrow near the middle is actually a menu. Click that and you will find other options you can play with. You can add tabs with this menu, lock the tabs to the dock, and save your options.

Utilities

The final window is the Utilities Window. This window is one of the more often overlooked tools of The GIMP. It shouldn’t be. This is where you deal with layers, channels, paths, etc. And you can add/remove as many tabs from this window as you like.

Utilities Window

One of the most powerful aspects of The Gimp is the ability to do layering, channels, and paths. The Utilities Window (shown at the left) allows you to add or remove tabs that relate to just about any task you need. By default the Utilities Window has four tabs open: Layers, Channels, Paths, and Undo History. You can add tabs by clicking the left-pointing arrow and then navigating through the Add Tab submenu. Each utility tab is different from the next depending upon the utility. The Layers tab, for instance, has six buttons near the bottom of the tab (which is actually near the center of the window): New Layer, Raise the selected layer, Lower the selected layer, Duplicate the selected layer, Anchor the selected layer, and Delete the selected layer.

You will also notice, at the top of the Utilities Window, a drop-down box. This allows you to select an image to work on when you have more than one image open.

Final Thoughts

And that’s it – the basics of The GIMP user interface. Once you get used to this interface you will find it very simple to navigate and much more user-friendly than you thought.

Ribbon seems the way to go and Microsoft already made several announcements about their upcoming operating system Windows 7 and the use of Ribbons in default applications like MS Paint and Wordpad.

But Microsoft is not the only company that is trying to push the new interface. A user on the Deviant Art website saw the screenshot of Windows 7 Wordpad with the Ribbon interface and decided to code that for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Solo-Dev pushed out an release candidate that is currently supporting plain text documents: A Notepad replacement so to speak with plans to integrate rich text and doc applications so that it will become a Wordpad replacement instead.

The downside of the project is that it requires the Windows .net Framework 3.5. It also uses lots of resources currently but the software developer promised to optimize the code and application so that the computer memory consumption would become less.

The interesting questions leading from this is: Have you worked with Microsoft Office 2007 yet? Do you like the Ribbon interface? Let me know.