Gnome 40

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wove
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Gnome 40

Post by wove »

Gnome is not too popular on this forum, but since around 3.28 I have liked using it. I have been itching to try Gnome 40 and I finally got a chance to use it on the Pinebook Pro. Overall I really like the UI and find it a very nice update.

The workspace have gone from being arranged verticle to a horizontal layout. Three finger swipe gestures have been very smoothly laid out so changing workspaces is a simple swipe away. MacOS implemented this layout and gestures about a decade ago. If you use a tablet and are accustomed to have full screen applications and easy switching between them, Gnome 40 is a very easy to understand interface and very easy to work with. I like PopOS's and found application switching fairly easy, but for me Gnome 40 takes that to a whole new level.

Gnome 40 has also addressed overall resource usage. When first booted I am showing ~750MB RAM usage. Gnome seems to also have done alot of work on resource usage for background processes. For instance it Evolution data server (Gnome equivalent of Akonadi services on KDE) have dropped from ~7% processor usage to negligible.

GTK4 has been moving toward creating applications windows that morph into layouts that fit well with screen size and orientation. Geary the email application enables this very well. In full screen it provides a typical 3 column view, but when window size is much smaller the view becomes more phone like. I notice that Win11 is also implementing this.

Gnome has to some measure alway had mechinisms to change the size of UI elements without needed to use a fixed scaling. This has been brought forward much more in Gnome 40. The file manager has a slider to change the size of icons. For image previews this almost makes the file manager useful as a photo manager.

I use a tablet a lot and my vision is not good and getting worse. I also find that I do much more content consumption that content creating. I do more editing than creating. Overall Gnome 40 has a very nice workflow for that manner of usage.
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crosscourt
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by crosscourt »

I only use Gnome with Zorin 16 and theirs is highly modified so it bears no resemblance to the typical Gnome DE. They are still using 3.38 but resource usage has improved greatly going from 1.2gb to 920mb given their customized desktop. Ive used Gnome though a lot over the years and the modified version with Ubuntu and enjoyed it but still prefer KDE overall. Ubuntu uses around 700mb so its improved as well.
I just prefer the feature set of KDE, the lower resource usage and the workflow overall suits me better. I dont use touchpads/touchscreens and stick to Mouse/keyboard so KDE feels more comfortable.
Zorin 16 though has a theme that uses a more default Gnome UI and Ive played with it quite a bit. I can see this being popular with tablet/laptop/portable device users its just not my choice.
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tlmiller
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by tlmiller »

I tested 40 when it was first released, and I have to say...I hate it. Truly, well, hate it. While gnome has NEVER really fit the way I want to work, 40 moves it even FURTHER from how I want to work into just a pile of absolute irritation that gets me frothing at the mouth and screaming because how everything works exactly OPPOSITE of what I consider logical and smooth.
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crosscourt
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by crosscourt »

I dont hate Gnome 40, but its like a foreign land, and I end up wandering around, not getting much done. The level of customization, features and configuration in KDE is really hard to beat.
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wove
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by wove »

Well anyway, I did after a many months delay get the chance to try Gnome 40 and I did like it. I was also impressed with how support for the Pinebook Pro has vastly improved. It is much improved and working overall just like what one expects from a laptop.

Back when I got the docking station I also picked up the NVME adaptor. With support so much improved I decided it was time to get an NVME SSD. I ordered a Kingston 64 GB which was cheap enough and "Its your lucky day." Amazon sent me a 256GB Kingston drive and it is recognized.

The best documentation for installing an OS to the NVME is surprise surprise in the Arch Wiki. So I am going to do some studying up on the tools Arch talks about using and see if I can get Arch up and running. I am still not sure on the DE I want.
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crosscourt
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by crosscourt »

Pretty nice Amazon sent you a 256gb instead of a 64gb drive.
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wove
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by wove »

I did not pay attention. It was not until I had installed it that I noticed. A month ago I ordered a 2.5" SATA SSD also 64GB, which I have not recieved and they have been unwilling to issue me a refund. Maybe that is karma just coming back on them. Of course in honesty I have no need of 256GB of storage in the PBP and I have no other devices it will work in.
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crosscourt
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by crosscourt »

My experiences with Amazon caused me to never do business with them again. Everyone has different experiences but my long term relationship both as
a seller aned buyer has been hugely better with Ebay.
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wove
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Re: Gnome 40

Post by wove »

For me the biggest advantage of Gnome is its accessibitity settings. For my use it is very simple to set up a very easy to see and use system. The settings are very easy to use, are global settings and maybe most important they are easy to find and turn on even on first run when it is hard to see anything on the screen. The addition of swipe gestures in Gnome 40 is really the iceing on the cake for making the system easy to use when you have vision limitations
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