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"""
Simply right click an ISO image and select "Write to CD".
"""

I just want to add that this has been true for quite a number of releases.

Some people, who disagree with the level of simplification of the Gnome UI, want to see more options added back.

But this user missed a very basic one in the current forest of menu options.

I think it is obvious that we need at least three levels of interface, selectable by the user:

1. Novice
2. Intermediate
3. Advanced

The current strategy of simplifying the primary interface and stuffing all the rest into the gconf-editor is suboptimal.

The user should be able to start out with a simple, reduced option interface. And then graduate to higher levels as their proficiency increases.

I'm not confining my recommendation to Gnome, BTW. Gnome, KDE, and XFCE are all in a position to implement it.

First one that does will be a winner.

"I think it is obvious that we need at least three levels of interface, selectable by the user:

1. Novice
2. Intermediate
3. Advanced"

I've suggested this as an idea to improve KDE. Because this has been discussed a few times, I just want to add a fourth level.

4. User configured

In this level, the (advanced / professional) user could configure all options and menues for what they should include, item by item, rearranging them as he likes it.

A similar concept has been used by Geoworks Ensemble 3.0 more than 10 years ago.

"The current strategy of simplifying the primary interface and stuffing all the rest into the gconf-editor is suboptimal."

This approach will make the UI less interesting for professionals who want to use it. On the other hand, even the simplest interface can be "misunderstood" if the (potential / novice) user is spoiled by strange and complicated concepts he might know from other desktop environments, usually from them manufactured by MICROS~1. :-)

"The user should be able to start out with a simple, reduced option interface. And then graduate to higher levels as their proficiency increases."

This is what made GeoWorks that appealing.

"I'm not confining my recommendation to Gnome, BTW. Gnome, KDE, and XFCE are all in a position to implement it.

First one that does will be a winner."

The first one was GeoWorks, as far as I know.. :-)

I really like this idea. It has been discussed to even to change the level dynamically. The system recognizes which options are used most times and places them in an obvious place. The disadvantage is a periodically changing UI which might cause problems...

Okay, just an idea. :-)

That reminds me of gnome 1.x... it didn't work because when someone asked a question on how to change one option that was in advanced mode, they would switch to the advanced settings and never switch back. Also, many users, especially those who want to try Linux, feel like they're advanced users, so they will enable that option. For the most part, options are either useful or they're really not, except for really, really advanced users who want to customize everything on their entire desktop. Being able to edit the menus everywhere might be helpful, but I think it would be a huge step back to have more then one set of defaults for beginner and expert and in between.

Another variant is the one oulined in this paper [1]

"The design includes two interfaces between which the user can easily toggle: (1) an interface personalized by the user containing desired features only, and (2) the default interface with all the standard features."

Instead of fixed interface "levels" you have the "personalized" level and the "kitchen sink" level. With an easy way to toggle features from the latter to show in the first.

[1] http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=503376.503406

This hast discussed to death, you know?

(*shudders* another ghost of user interface past... )

Experience levels have been tried before and they have always failed and will always fail.

First of all, it's a hell to support. Have you ever worked on IT first level support? Even getting people trough "normal" configuration dialogs is a hell. Having multiple versions of configuration dialogs and trying to figure out, which version the user has active is so much, much, much worse.

The second issue is, that as soon someone doesn't find a configuration option for some exotic feature he would like the application to have, he (or she) will turn to the "Advanced" level. Noone ever uses the intermediate level configuration dialog.

Nautilus had such a thing years and years ago. It failed, is was removed. It's dead and burried, please leave it there; it's just where it belongs.

Or drag and drop the iso file to the cd burner place, and you will be asked if you want to write that as a disk with just one file that would be the iso file, or rather create a disk with the contents of the iso file.

It is a tricky question, but writing CDs is tricky; Gnome cannot assume you want to create a disk from the iso image, though that would be the most frequent choice by far. Maybe the burn button could directly create the disk from ISO asking no questions, while the file-burn command in the pull down menu could pop up a window offering more choice (as happens in many apps with the print button and the file-print option).

Thank you for the correction; I don't know why I was marked down given it was a genuine inquiry; the way I interpret 'write to cd' I assumed it meant just a straight copy to the cd of the file rather than the actualy image itself being used to create the cd.