Show your browser layout

[DJGM]

I HATE the phrase "less is more" with a vengeance ... and anymore that uses it I'll always dismiss as pretentious prats.

Less is less, not more. A more appropriate term for this stupid trend of gratuitously hiding/removing important GUI

elements is "dumbing down". Google started it with Chrome, why others are copying it, I cannot understand.

OK ... those of you with these browser layouts with certain elements missing, can you tell me what size your display

is and what resolution you have it set as? Since standard computer displays and screen resolutions are gradually

getting larger, the argument about simplified GUI's saving screen space is a very poor argument.

If we were all stuck at resolutions no higher than 800x600, it would be understandable to want to hide elements

of the GUI until we need them, but if for example, you have a decent sized monitor set to a high resolution,

there is really no need whatsoever to hide any part of your browser GUI.

Even at a fairly bog standard resolution of 1024x768, over-simplified browser GUI layouts are a complete folly.

If these cutdown GUI layouts were only optional, and not the default, I'd have far less of an issue with them.

[Udedenkz]

Going from the previous post,

If anything the Firefox4 button menu is a really bad idea.

I cannot find anything that way.

It is like the Chrome wrench button.

FF4 Button // Chrome Wrench: Click Button -> Slowly Find Option -> (Optional) Find Sub-Option -> Click on Option

Office 2k7+ / W7 WordPad: Click Button -> Quickly Find Option -> (Optional) Quickly Find Sub-Option -> Click on Option

Classic: Medium (or slow with Open-Source stuff like LibreOffice) Speed Find Option -> (Optional) Find Sub-Option -> Click on Option

[Kaoxt]

Going from the previous post,

If anything the Firefox4 button menu is a really bad idea.

I cannot find anything that way.

It is like the Chrome wrench button.

FF4 Button // Chrome Wrench: Click Button -> Slowly Find Option -> (Optional) Find Sub-Option -> Click on Option

Office 2k7+ / W7 WordPad: Click Button -> Quickly Find Option -> (Optional) Quickly Find Sub-Option -> Click on Option

Classic: Medium (or slow with Open-Source stuff like LibreOffice) Speed Find Option -> (Optional) Find Sub-Option -> Click on Option

That is why you can customize it anyway you want. :)

[Solid Knight]

Enough already of these browser layouts that look best suited for public internet kiosks and/or mobile internet devices!

Too many redundant buttons.

Menu stuff goes under the Firefox menu (or press ALT to unhide the menu bar that I rarely access).

Bookmarks are on my context menu.

Tools are under a tool menu on my context menu.

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

I HATE the phrase "less is more" with a vengeance ... and anymore that uses it I'll always dismiss as pretentious prats.

Less is less, not more. A more appropriate term for this stupid trend of gratuitously hiding/removing important GUI

elements is "dumbing down". Google started it with Chrome, why others are copying it, I cannot understand.

Agreed, less is not more. However, more is not more either. The goal is to remove bloat from the interface. For example, you have four buttons for DownThemAll, when the single button "DownThemAll!..." combines the function of all four of those buttons into a single dropdown menu.

It all comes down to personal preference. There is no right or "default" way of doing things. If you like your browser like that, that's fine. But the best way of doing things is simply your own opinion.

[remixedcat]

I also HATE the fad of hiding the url on the bottom it's very stupid how some people want to completely disable it at all time (even while hovering or loading) makes it sooo easy to get infected. there's tons of people that did this and regret it. LOL.

here's an example:

[user1]

I'm having a problem with windows 7 [insert problem description here]

[user2]

click on this link from microsoft's site to download this update that should fix your problem

user 1 get's infected becuase they trusted that user2 would give them a legit MS Update link and they get infected becuase they weren't aware of the true URL of the site. They trusted that it came from microsoft's site.

and what's really bad is some people want the browser to be shipped with that URL on the bottom to be completely disabled and no hover URL by default. and guess who doesn't customize stuff right away? the same people who click those links.

stupid stupid fad.

[grayscale]

Stupid people will recklessly click links whether it is displayed or not.

I HATE the phrase "less is more" with a vengeance ... and anymore that uses it I'll always dismiss as pretentious prats.

Less is less, not more. A more appropriate term for this stupid trend of gratuitously hiding/removing important GUI

elements is "dumbing down". Google started it with Chrome, why others are copying it, I cannot understand.

OK ... those of you with these browser layouts with certain elements missing, can you tell me what size your display

is and what resolution you have it set as? Since standard computer displays and screen resolutions are gradually

getting larger, the argument about simplified GUI's saving screen space is a very poor argument.

If we were all stuck at resolutions no higher than 800x600, it would be understandable to want to hide elements

of the GUI until we need them, but if for example, you have a decent sized monitor set to a high resolution,

there is really no need whatsoever to hide any part of your browser GUI.

Even at a fairly bog standard resolution of 1024x768, over-simplified browser GUI layouts are a complete folly.

If these cutdown GUI layouts were only optional, and not the default, I'd have far less of an issue with them.

If you are using Firefox and Opera (and maybe IE9 too, but I haven't really tried bringing it back to the old UI), then these are optional. As others said, it is redundant:

A user may disable the bookmarks bar and simply use the bookmarks button (with dropdown arrow) for Fx.

dTa has its buttons, but it's present on the context menu and under tools options as well. The same goes for most addons.

The hidden menu bar can easily be activated by pressing Alt key.

Just because you have a place for everything does not mean you have to show everything, including stuffs that are redundant and buttons you do not use. It's about how you use those options, not how you chose to show (or hide) it.

For Chrome, you all guys can correct me here, but I think they just created a browser used simply for...browsing. User opens up Chrome, browses, closes it. Bookmarks bar is present and addon buttons are in its place. They focus more on the speed and simplicity of the browser resulting to a simpler UI.

[trag3dy]

I HATE the phrase "less is more" with a vengeance ... and anymore that uses it I'll always dismiss as pretentious prats.

Less is less, not more. A more appropriate term for this stupid trend of gratuitously hiding/removing important GUI

elements is "dumbing down". Google started it with Chrome, why others are copying it, I cannot understand.

OK ... those of you with these browser layouts with certain elements missing, can you tell me what size your display

is and what resolution you have it set as? Since standard computer displays and screen resolutions are gradually

getting larger, the argument about simplified GUI's saving screen space is a very poor argument.

If we were all stuck at resolutions no higher than 800x600, it would be understandable to want to hide elements

of the GUI until we need them, but if for example, you have a decent sized monitor set to a high resolution,

there is really no need whatsoever to hide any part of your browser GUI.

Even at a fairly bog standard resolution of 1024x768, over-simplified browser GUI layouts are a complete folly.

If these cutdown GUI layouts were only optional, and not the default, I'd have far less of an issue with them.

And no one is forcing you to use your browser like that. It all comes down to personal preference.

You don't like the minimalistic look? That's fantastic! I do, however.

Doesn't mean I'm right and you're wrong and it doesn't mean you're right and I'm wrong. Where we differ is I don't come on here telling everyone who does like a certain aesthetic that they're choice is wrong like you did.

My initial reply was a quick reaction to you stating that anyone who likes the minimalistic approach is wrong, which again, is just an opinion.

[DJGM]

Too many redundant buttons.

A place for everything, and everything in it's place.

Menu stuff goes under the Firefox menu (or press ALT to unhide the menu bar that I rarely access).

Bookmarks are on my context menu.

Tools are under a tool menu on my context menu.

In other words, needlessly hiding stuff behind obscure buttons and dropdowns. I like to have everything within easy

reach, including any menu items that I might not use as often as others. If anything, I'm a browser traditionalist,

with a strong preference towards having as close to maximum functionality as realistically possible.

Having bookmarks hidden behind a context menu causes unnecessary extra mouse clicks and navigation, whereas

all of my most frequently accessed Bookmarks are right there in front of me ready and waiting within neatly titled

folders along my Bookmarks bar. Any other bookmarks I don't access so often, are either relegated to the folder

titled "misc", or are discarded altogether when they've become no longer relevant, or effectively dead links.

Tools are under the appropriately titled Tools menu where it should be ... on the Menu bar.

All of these over simplified browser GUI layouts that have suddenly become so freakishly popular over the last

year or so, seem to be little more than style over functionality. At least Firefox 4.x, Opera 11.x and Safari 5.x,

although dumbed down by default, are easily customisable to restore gratuitously hidden elements.

Some say having fewer GUI elements help the novice users, but that isn't necessarily the case. Recently, a friend

who I'd previously set up Firefox 3.x, and is very much a novice user, asked me why "a load of stuff has gone

from my Firefox" ... he'd been auto upgraded to Firefox 4, and he hated the new default cutdown GUI.

As for GUI bloat, lest we forget ... NeoPlanet ... a seriously horrific 3rd party front-end for Internet Explorer . . .

:no: :blink: :o :( :cry:

:x

[remixedcat]

also the "mystery meat" navigation trend just makes stuff harder, not easier for n00bs.

and also I can compare the same to media players. I hate going back and using windows media player when I'm on another person's system. I feel like so much stuff is missing compared to media jukebox.

the new WMP interface is actually harder, not easier to use and it has less features. it's harder for users to adjust EQ settings. it takes 5 steps vs the 3 in prev. versions. "all in the name of minimalism"

when you go from a powerful Firefox 4 or 3.6.x install then use IE9 it feels like going from a ferrari to a vw beetle.

[Solid Knight]

In other words, needlessly hiding stuff behind obscure buttons and dropdowns. I like to have everything within easy

reach, including any menu items that I might not use as often as others.

How is it obscure? I customized the interface so I know where everything is at. The bookmarks are more convenient than some bar with buttons because I can access my bookmarks (which are very organized) without having to move my mouse cursor across the screen. I right-click anywhere and I have access to my bookmarks. Beyond bookmarks, URL entry, page history (controlled by mouse), and tabs, there is nothing else that I do often enough to warrant a dedicated button.

[remixedcat]

look at zoidberg's face he mad at browser beating. LOL.

[myxomatosis]

;)

[DJGM]

This is exactly what I mean. That looks like it's been taken from a very high resolution screen, so there is absolutely no need or

excuse whatsover to have dumbed down the browser so much, you're left with is what amounts to a nearly non existant GUI!

Why not go the whole hog ... get rid of the Back/Forward buttons, and the Location Bar, so you have a browser with no GUI

at all?!? That extreme lack of GUI elements really should only ever be used on a device with a low res display of 800x600

or less, such as a smartphone or similar, not on a high resolution desktop display or a decent sized laptop.

Oh well ... if a smart, well organised, professional browser layout, for true power users, with all standard GUI elements intact,

such as my SeaMonkey layout shown earlier, is quite obviously too much for some people to handle ... who am I to argue?

To partially quote cork1958 in the comments for the Neowin article on SeaMonkey 2.1 RC2 . . .

Straight forward and gets the job done.

[/quote']

Really can't argue with that, personally ... although I'm sure some other people around here would.

[inferniac]

If these cutdown GUI layouts were only optional, and not the default, I'd have far less of an issue with them.

As your screenshot clearly shows they're optional, personally I don't see a reason to have a menu bar always present, since I can't even remember the last time I required access to it ,so I can't see a reason for it to steal screen space from the main focus of browsing - the websites. With mouse gestures in Opera I barely even use the back / forward buttons. And please stop calling simplifying GUIs "dumb" just makes you sound ignorant.

Oh well ... if a smart, well organised, professional browser layout, for true power users, with all standard GUI elements intact,

such as my SeaMonkey layout shown earlier, is quite obviously too much for some people to handle ... who am I to argue?

Yeah, yeah we get it, you're smart and everyone else is dumb :no:

Anyway here's mine ;) :

[Deo Domuique]

Everyone has his own "Standards". The great advantage Fx gives you is that you've the ability/options to do whatever you want.

These are my "Standards". I don't need more, I don't need less:

Fx 7?1 - 24 Inches Monitor 1920x1080. I don't give a damn about more space ( space stealing etc crappy thoughts don't count on me ). It's just what I like to see when I open my browser and of course the convenience which gives me depending on what I need.

[grayscale]

This is exactly what I mean. That looks like it's been taken from a very high resolution screen, so there is absolutely no need or

excuse whatsover to have dumbed down the browser so much, you're left with is what amounts to a nearly non existant GUI!

Why not go the whole hog ... get rid of the Back/Forward buttons, and the Location Bar, so you have a browser with no GUI

at all?!? That extreme lack of GUI elements really should only ever be used on a device with a low res display of 800x600

or less, such as a smartphone or similar, not on a high resolution desktop display or a decent sized laptop.

Oh well ... if a smart, well organised, professional browser layout, for true power users, with all standard GUI elements intact,

such as my SeaMonkey layout shown earlier, is quite obviously too much for some people to handle ... who am I to argue?

A true power user would know the kind of layout that will suit his needs. He'll know which bars or buttons to remove and how it affects how he uses his browser. Again, just because you can, doesn't mean you should and just because everything has a place, does not mean you need to place everything.

Why not go the whole hog ... get rid of the Back/Forward buttons, and the Location Bar, so you have a browser with no GUI

at all?!?

Well if you're going to that kind of logic, then why not:

And I'm off. The topic about whether you'll go with the old school layout or the new 'dumbed down' layout should not reach more than one page unless it is on its own thread. :)

Edit: The picture above was taken from the Google Toolbar 7 thread

[riceBox]

Derp

[trag3dy]

This is exactly what I mean. That looks like it's been taken from a very high resolution screen, so there is absolutely no need or

excuse whatsover to have dumbed down the browser so much, you're left with is what amounts to a nearly non existant GUI!

Why not go the whole hog ... get rid of the Back/Forward buttons, and the Location Bar, so you have a browser with no GUI

at all?!? That extreme lack of GUI elements really should only ever be used on a device with a low res display of 800x600

or less, such as a smartphone or similar, not on a high resolution desktop display or a decent sized laptop.

Oh well ... if a smart, well organised, professional browser layout, for true power users, with all standard GUI elements intact,

such as my SeaMonkey layout shown earlier, is quite obviously too much for some people to handle ... who am I to argue?

To partially quote cork1958 in the comments for the Neowin article on SeaMonkey 2.1 RC2 . . .

Really can't argue with that, personally ... although I'm sure some other people around here would.

If we don't use those elements regularly what's the point in them being there? Simplified is not dumbed down. I don't use the menu bar so I don't need it taking up vertical screen space, although it's there if/when I ever need to be. I don't use the bookmarks bar so I don't need it taking up vertical screen space. It doesn't matter how big my monitor is (what a silly argument) I want to see as much of a webpage as I can and I don't need anyone telling me I'm stupid for preferring it this way. After all everything you said is your opinion on your personal preferences.

Anyways... you seem to be completely ignoring all the valid points every one is making so I won't continue.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Been with Firefox for a few months and was missing Chrome

[Darrian]

Mine for now. Firefox 5 b5 + Flow + Stratiform.

[dysgenics]

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

Stratiform and OmniSidebar.

[Ji@nBing]

Opera 11.50 RC1

Firefox 5.0

[Rollingstone]

Simple is best !