New interface
 

OmniWeb's interface could be a bit cleaner. Maybe Mail-like buttons and a window-integrated drawer would help:

[IMG]http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/4276/2000680853530796663_rs.jpg[/IMG]

Other than the drawer bit, I pretty much have configured OW on one of my machines to be that clean. The buttons are obviously different...

I dig this. I am for it. However, perhaps the OW drawer pops out in contrast with the Firefox sidebar, which is integrated into the window.

Anyway, I like the integrated, vertically splayed buttons/tabs idea.

P

[img]http://home.comcast.net/~filehost/og/ow_clean.jpg[/img]

Great!
 

Yeah, I like it too! Very nice!

While Forrest's screenshot shows about five (!) windows in the background, you could browse without distractions in fullscreen mode if the drawer was integrated into the window.

The use of a sidebar vs. the drawer has already been discussed extensively in [url=http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=1172]this thread[/url].

[QUOTE=Stormchild]The use of a sidebar vs. the drawer has already been discussed extensively in [url=http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=1172]this thread[/url].[/QUOTE]

Yeah, and also in [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=179"]this OO thread[/URL]. (But here we [I]see[/I] the diff.)

[QUOTE=120]While Forrest's screenshot shows about five (!) windows in the background, you could browse without distractions in fullscreen mode if the drawer was integrated into the window.[/QUOTE]

Oh, but I like windows in the background! Easy to click on to get to something else. And I NEVER browse in fullscreen mode. I doubt there's a site out there that looks good that's 3120px wide. Most don't even look good at 1200px wide. Many forums are hard to read that wide.

That's interesting: I have no toolbars visible at all. I mostly use the keyboard. The only toolbar that appears is the standalone location bar I see when I press cmd-L or cmd-T.

I also don't understand the desire to put the thumbs under the window title/toolbar. Conceptually my "browser" is the view of the page I'm visiting; the thumbs are external to it. The FF/IE/Mail.app etc way of unifying them is conceptually incoherent IMNSHO.

But then again most pages I tend to visit are primarily text anyway so full-screen-sized windows work well for me -- I try to get as many characters on the screen as I possibly can.

YMMV

[QUOTE=Forrest]Oh, but I like windows in the background! Easy to click on to get to something else.[/QUOTE]

I agree with 120. The windows in the background of your screenshot look quite distracting, and it's doubtful that you always remember what window is the one you're looking for. There are by far better ways to switch applications (the dock or [cmd]-[tab]) or windows (Exposé).


[QUOTE=Forrest]And I NEVER browse in fullscreen mode. I doubt there's a site out there that looks good that's 3120px wide. Most don't even look good at 1200px wide. Many forums are hard to read that wide.[/QUOTE]

1.) If you use one of those 12" PowerBooks, you might want to enlarge your windows to the max. (If you [shift]-click the maximize button of a OW browser window, the window will be maximized to fit the screen.)

2.) I love to browse through satellite images of NASA's [URL="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/"]Earth Observatory[/URL]. For example, [URL="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/cuddalore_l7_2000302_lrg.jpg"]the image of today[/URL] is 2000 × 2000 px, so even if maximize the window to screen size, I'll just see about half of the image on my 19" screen (with 1280 × 1024 resolution).


[QUOTE=gumby]That's interesting: I have no toolbars visible at all. I mostly use the keyboard. The only toolbar that appears is the standalone location bar I see when I press cmd-L or cmd-T.
[/QUOTE]

Lovely! I didn't know that the hidden toolbar can be displayed by [cmd]-[L] and after using it will hide again.

I've been using OW for quite a while now, and I'm pretty used to it's interface. Anyway, this would be a great improvement! Love it!

OW was always ahead of it's time, and I think it'd be great to have that Leopard interface today!

[B]Do it, Omni! Do it! [/B]:)

As has been said, the drawer/sidebar thing has beem thrashed before, but I'm still an advocate for sidebar. I did a similar mockup early last year: [url]http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/omniweb-wishlist-ii[/url]

I'm really not a fan of the new mail icons though ;o)