xftaskbar4 used to divide the whole length of the taskbar into the number of open windows. If one window was open, it would have taken the total length of the taskbar. If two windows were open, each would have taken half the length of the taskbar...etc. This behaviour was changed in 4.1 CVS and consequently 4.2-beta1 without the option to choose the old behaviour.
there was some discussion on this on the ML a while ago, and i believe it was eventually decided to leave it the way it is now; a pref for it is unlikely. on the other hand, the old behavior was fitts'-law compliant, while the new one isn't (even if it may be more aesthetically pleasing). personally, i think the old behavior was more useful, and i don't really have a feeling either way based on how it looks. other devs' opinions?
i like very much the new behaviour but letting the choice to the user would be fine IMHO
I'm not a dev, but as a user I prefer the old (Fitts' law compliant) way of using the whole taskbar. When I first saw it it seemed odd, but after getting used to it I was sad to see it changed. I'm all for having an option for this.
It should not be an option. That would be silly and, IMO, against the philosophy we have been trying to follow until now. If you want to change that, a big flame war on the mailing list will be required ;-) I felt the huge task buttons were confusing, and the changes too big when other windows were opened. It might also have been familiarity with other systems (yeah, windows, sorry). That's why I proposed it (after a user requested an option ;-) and Olivier agreed. I don't think one way is inherently better than the other. I do think the current one is more like other taskbar systems around and therefore probably a bit more familiar. In the end I don't think we should change.
With all my respect Jasper, just because all other taskbars do it in the certain way that it should be the way of choice. The old behavior was there for a long while and alot of users are used to it. I can't disagree more that having an option to allow the old behavior is silly, and I find you're argument non convincing. How come adding a new feature allowing variable taskbar length isn't against xfce's philosophy while adding an option to remedy sudden change in the functionality of the taskbar which has been that way for a long time is against the philosophy? BTW, At first I found it odd just as Sami did but eventually found it to be the most sensible way. Why sould I aim on a small button while the whole taskbar is wastefully unused. I still can't understand the new behavior just like I don't understand Gnome's taskbar, when I open an xterm only the taskbar button is to small while opening subsequent apps makes the buttons of larger length, I'm confused, any explanations?
The option for the taskbar length allows you to so something you couldn't do before (put something else next to it ;-). I do agree that familiarity is not a very strong argument, especially since 4.0 users are now used to the big task buttons. Also, the number of responses indicate people feel strongly about it. That's a good argument for an option. To implement that for 4.2 would mean breaking the string freeze and I can't really see this as important enought to do that. Alternatively we can revert to the old behaviour and add an option for 4.4. I don't actually care enough to argue about this point, but I would like to hear Olivier's opinion on this before changing anything.
My point is very simple: no option for such a triviality, either choose one way or another (I have no strong opinion on that, I think shorter buttons look slightly better, but that's it), but it is not going to be optional.
a gentle reminder: this is not a discussion board. i merely asked for the opinions of other devs before marking this WONTFIX out of hand. as jasper somewhat mentioned, the mailing list is a better place for this sort of thing. at any rate, the consensus seems to be that it's fine the way it is, and that we're not adding a pref for this. marking WONTFIX, as reverting the behavior seems to involve a slight usability boost matched with an equal aesthetic decrease. at any rate, if one of us ever properly removes the taskbar border such that you can click the buttons just by mashing the mouse to the edge of the screen (bug 367), i think that will be a big enough usability boost to balance this small loss.