One of the big changes (besides window button placement, another facepalm that I won’t even get in to) in Lucid is the introduction of the new Indicator area. This area is supposed to merge and standardize various icons from the system tray (system tray: an area of the taskbar where various applications can place status and function icons) into an area on the taskbar where various applications can place status and function icons. Brilliant!

The first bit of joy is the messaging menu, a small envelope. It merges email, instant messaging, and social garbage like Twitter into a single clickable menu. But of course since this is Ubuntu, it only supports one email client, Evolution, and one instant messenger, Empathy. Both of which are pure shit. (Update: Shawn in the comments informs me that Pidgin is compatible with the messaging menu.) At least Evolution has the decency to be fairly stable; Empathy is still a half-baked piece of junk that doesn’t deserve the label of Beta. I’m assuming Gwibber is the only client Ubuntu supports for the social aspect, but I’m not interested in broadcasting my latest dump on Twitter, so I didn’t bother setting Gwibber up. But we’re not talking about the applications themselves, just the indicator, so let me get back on track.

Back in the halcyon days of yore, I had one icon for Pidgin and one icon for Thunderbird in my system tray. You would left click on either one of those to restore the windows; closing the windows would return them to the tray. Pidgin changed icons when I had a message waiting, and Thunderbird showed me the number of unread mails in my account. I could tell whether or not I had an IM queued or new mail, and a single click would open the right window so that I could get on top of it. Pure bliss.

Now, there’s a single envelope to tell me whether I have a new IM, mail message, Twitter trackback, or whatever. Which one do I have? Fuck me, I have no idea. It’s just a green envelope. How do I find out? I have to click the envelope to open a menu, scan the menu, and figure out what’s waiting for me. Then I have to click again to open the right application. We’ve moved from two clear icons that clearly represent the state of two different applications, and behave consistently when left-clicked, to a single icon that represents many applications, and whose state is unclear unless the user refocuses their attention and clicks on it to open a menu to read, then clicks again to open the right app. Brilliant job guys! Way to reduce the number of clicks and attention shifts I have to do to understand the state of my system! Oh, and too bad Evolution doesn’t minimize to the tray on close–you have to have it open in your taskbar at all times if you want to have your mail checked.

I don’t use Rhythmbox, because it’s terrible. I use Banshee, a far superior program. Banshee has it’s own plugin for the indicator applet. The old Banshee tray icon behaved this way: single left click opens Banshee (just like a single left click opens every single app in my system tray), hover shows you what’s playing, and right click opens a context menu with some handy options. Perfect.

The indicator applet for Banshee does this: left click opens a context menu with far fewer options. Right click opens the panel options menu (remove indicator applet from panel, lock to panel, etc.). Hover does nothing. To open the Banshee window I have to click twice. I can no longer tell what song is currently playing without opening the Banshee window. I still have an icon at the top of my screen, but now it’s called an indicator instead of a tray icon. How is this more clear or more useful? More to the point, HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM THE REGULAR TRAY ICON, BESIDES IT SUCKING WAY MORE?

It’s not different. In his blind zeal, Shuttleworth has unwittingly re-created the system tray under the guise of “shiny,” “new,” “usable,” and “consistent.” Unfortunately for us, “usability” and “consistancy” aren’t the result.

The old system tray was consistent. It had a clear HIG from Gnome that all the Gnome apps I use adhere to. Deluge, Transmission, Thunderbird, Banshee, Dropbox, Pidgin, Empathy–all of these apps open on left click, menu on right click, and info on hover. There is no ambiguity. THE SYSTEM TRAY WAS ALREADY CONSISTENT. Now, the indicator app does many things: left-click on Banshee to open a menu. Left click on the envelope to open a list of apps. Left click on Volume to open a volume bar. Left click on Battery to tell you that it’s charged. The indicator app is actually LESS consistent than the system tray. And it’s still a bunch of icons at the top of the screen. Way to lead the revolution, guys.

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