One of the key areas which gnome always lacked was the message tray. From Gnome 3.6, this area is going to be re-branded and is going to have some awesome features. Have a look at the below screenshot as to know how this tray will look like:
As you see, the message tray has the ability to not only display chat notifications, but also music, downloads, backups and more. Currently, the following integration are being planned:
- Music Player
- Text Chat
- Voice or Video call
- Microblogging client
- Email client
- Software updates
- Power management
- Downloads
- Calendar
- Weather
- Contacts
- IRC Chat
According to the proposed design the items in the message tray will be considerably larger, 48x48px. Message tray isn't an overlay, but modal in a way. It pushes the view up. If the number of items grows beyond available space, the icons are scaled down in a similar fashion to the dash in the overview.
With the calender integrated, you can get quick access to days appointments and more. This whiteboard picture below depicts its working:
The chat box now also displays the chat status like online, away etc
With so much features planned, will Gnome 3.6 be one of the best Gnome releases ever?
Saurav Modak
Saurav Modak is an engineering student and FOSS enthusiast who believes that best things in the world, such as software should be free (as in freedom). He is a hard core Arch fan and loves to show off his customized Arch Linux installation to friends. You can connect with Saurav on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
