SUMMARY Grouping related windows more tightly or side by side (maybe partially overlapping). Some users can easily get 10+ windows opened due to some applications requiring more than one window (like multiple instances of Firefox, LibreOffice, mail reader, emacs). The overview will come unusable due to all windows rearranged into scatters. I didn't look at the algorithm for overview window aligning/ordering, but I do think windows from the same application should be aligned side by side or grouped together, like the grouping in the taskbar. Think about this: With the grouped windows in the overview, a user wants a firefox instance for academic research, he toggles the overview, and just scans around the "firefox group" to select the "academic" firefox window. Easy breezy! STEP TO REPRODUCE 1. open multiple windows of Firefox, LibreOffice, Emacs frames or Konsoles. 2. toggle overview 3. All applications windows are mixed together, and hard to select one unless eye scan one by one. PRIOR ARTS macOS -> see screenshot. I believe it is one of the elegant designs. (macOS native apps tend to be a single instance and using tabs for different "documents", overlap-grouping works for them) GNOME -> Since GTK4, all top native GTK4 applications can only have a single top-level window, and all subwindows are just surface floating on top of it, thus they will be grouped together automatically. I cannot do the test, but I don't think they have special handling for none-GTK apps. Windows -> Same as KDE right now, windows of same applications scattered around. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 1. open GIMP 2. unselect "Windows -> single-window mode", the overview will be somehow strange. 3. The GIMP docks are scattered and mixed with other windows in the overview.
Created attachment 148077 [details] Overview grouping in macOS. typo in 1st paragraph: come -> become
What if the window you want it mostly covered up by other windows? How does this macOS thing work? When you click on a group, does it expand to show you all the window in the group so you can pick one? Or do you have to click on the small bit of a window that's visible within the group?
Created attachment 148226 [details] Multiple ibooks windows
> What if the window you want it mostly covered up by other windows? How does this macOS thing work? I think the trade-off that apple made was to cover most of the underlying windows, other than the top one. Users can select windows on bottom based on the visible part. However, when the windows exceed 4 (which is probably a "rare" situation for macOS users in the apple's eye), only a tiny bar will show up. > When you click on a group, does it expand to show you all the window in the group so you can pick one? Or do you have to click on the small bit of a window that's visible within the group? They click on the small bit of a window that's visible within the group. Of course, this doesn't work for us, some applications don't even have a meaningful title bar. ---- Actually, my primary complaint is that the applications got "randomized" locations, and I didn't have this experience on Mac. To spot a window of a specific application, I have to scan the whole screen. I attached another screenshot of this behaviour. I wish the Firefox windows can show up side by side (the stacking is not necessary). Maybe I should file a request again with this simpler one.
Created attachment 148227 [details] "Randomized" window locations on the overview of KDE.
> Users can select windows on bottom based on the visible part. I don't think that's a good UX at all. Apple's design isn't always the best. :) Arranging windows so that windows from the same parent app are closer to one another is a reasonable request though. But I don't think grouping them such that windows get covered up is a good solution for us.
*** Bug 467071 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***