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Various OS X apps use the drawer; some people like it, some people hate it. What do you think about the drawer?

1/1: Various OS X apps use the drawer; some people like it, some people hate it. What do you think about the drawer?

The drawer is great! 177 (17.30%)
Somewhat positive 256 (25.02%)
Neutral - neither like nor dislike 176 (17.20%)
Somewhat negative 165 (16.13%)
Hate the drawer! 89 (8.70%)
What's a drawer? 160 (15.64%)
Other polls | 1,023 votes | 5 comments

Various OS X apps use the drawer; some people like it, some people hate it. What do you think about the drawer? | 5 comments | Create New Account
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Mail.app
Authored by: Pedro Estarque on Nov 17, '04 11:02:59AM

I think it's a good option but mail's implementation is the worst I've ever seen.
it's supposed to have only non-crusial info so you can hide it in order to save screen space, but mailboxes? If your drawer must be on all the time you are probably losing space.



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Mail.app
Authored by: RiotNrrrd on Nov 21, '04 09:47:57PM

Mail.app's GUI is getting an overhaul in Tiger, so this problem will go away next year :)



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mildly negative
Authored by: chris_on_hints on Nov 17, '04 05:28:17PM

the "some people hate it" link has some valid points.

I generally like the way the drawer is used to display additional information, but agree that the implementation is very clunky and 'un apple-like'. The fact that windows dont automatically resize to accomodate the appearance and dissapearance of the drawer bug me, and it took me ages to work out why the drawer in Mail suddenly started popping out of the opposite side of the window.....

My 2 cents: Keep the drawer, but make it easier to use - or ditch it in favour of something more like the Finder's 'Sidebar'.



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mildly negative
Authored by: JKT on Nov 18, '04 01:11:58PM

OmniGroup have been doing the window resizing thing correctly* in their apps ever since MacOS X 10.0 so I don't know why Apple and other developers haven't been able to and continue to be unable to do it properly.

Drawers have their place - most notably for the fact that they allow developers to increase their available vertical space without impacting on the presence of a toolbar, something that a paned window cannot do. They also allow easier access to the background windows or desktop than a paned window would owing to the small titlebar sized gap at the top and bottom. However, they aren't used well by some developers and can be a hindrance to an app rather than an asset... it all depends on the app.

* That is, if the drawer is going to appear off screen when opened, it resizes the window to allow it to fit on screen and closing it then resizes the window back to its original size, etc.


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hmmm
Authored by: poenn on Nov 23, '04 02:09:07PM

i think the drawer should automatically adjust its height to the needed space, should never change its position (left OR right OR bottom) and should always move or resize the main window in order to see everything.
turning off the drawer should result in the main window resizing and repositioning the way it was before. :-)



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