On Thu, 24 May 2012 16:14:27 -0400 Marc Paré <[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks to the Mageia teams for the newest distro version, it is a > great looking system and it works without any problems. > > At this time, the only critique I would have is (sorry my systems are > all in French, so the terms below may not be correct): > > * the choice of "Window Decorations" -- I would have gone with a more > conventional window a little like a windows look-a-like. I switched > to "Plastik". If we are going to try to popularize Mageia, we will > have to have more conventional widows themes to lessen the hurdles to > newcomers. > > * the "Cursor Theme" -- I am 53 of age and the default theme is a > little too hard to see. The arrow icon on the default theme does not > have a well defined tail and blends too well with the text when > wordprocessing, messaging etc. I switched to "Whiteglass" but may > change it again. Also, I find the shadow on the cursors is too > extreme, it should be closed up -- but this may be due to the > Whiteglass theme. > > * I love the treatment of the bottom bar where open windows/software > icons take much less space. This is really great and much appreciated. > > * Neopunk -- well, what can I say, it slows my machine down quite a > bit, but then, I have over 200 gigs of data on it. I'm going to give > it the benefit of the doubt and give it a chance at indexing. I am > not sure how long it will take for my system, but it would be nice to > have an indexed machine to work with as I do quite a bit of searches > through files. I hope it doesn't take weeks to index. > > * the "Activity Manager", I had not really worked with this, but, I > can see its appeal where someone would want an uncluttered screen > with some of the options. It is nice to see it out in the open for > people to try. > > * PulseAudio -- it can either be a "bust or a boom" on different > systems. On my system, I have a Via 8237 sound controller and > PulseAudio did not want to play nicely with it, so I removed it and > all is well; I am not sure, but I think the problem was with my > WebCam being plugged into the system. I also switched KMix with > QASMixer as I like the controls better on QASMixer. > > Otherwise, the system works really well and is responsive. I still > have 2 more desktops and a laptop to install at home. I have also a > lineup of 30 clients whose computers I maintain on a volunteer basis > and the lineup has already started for the upgrades from MageiaV.1.0 > to MageiaV.2.0. > > Thanks again for all of the great work and OS! > > Cheers, > > Marc > I agree with all Marc's comments, but perhaps he and I aren't typical (I am almost 70.) The choice of Window Decorations: I don't like the Oxygen theme either, but it is the KDE standard. Plastik is one of my favorites as well. The Cursor theme: Once again, this is standard. I have changed to the blue version of Marc's White Glass. Nepomuk: I am using XFCE. I hate KDE's attempts to cover the screen with information popups. I set aside .75 of a Gig for a Home Directory in my test setup, running KDE. 630 MB of it is used up in hidden directories, with 149 MB in Akonadi. Long gone are the days when a whole distro would fit in 2 GB. When I do switch to KDE, indexing makes startup take about as long as in Windows. That should make the team at KDE happy! Doug.
