GTK+ Gains Experimental Overlay Scrollbars

[phoronix]

Phoronix: GTK+ Gains Experimental Overlay Scrollbars

Matthias Clasen has added overlay scrollbars to the GTK+ tool-kit as a new, experimental feature...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTgxOTE

[mark45]

For me as a keyboard/mouse user the overlay scrollbars are annoying because they hide the fact that something is scrollable until you figure out that you don't see the whole stuff in the viewport and start wondering what's wrong.
With normal scrollbars this doesn't happen.

[[Knuckles]]

For me as a keyboard/mouse user the overlay scrollbars are annoying because they hide the fact that something is scrollable until you figure out that you don't see the whole stuff in the viewport and start wondering what's wrong.
With normal scrollbars this doesn't happen.

I can't speak for the gnome version but at least the ubuntu version still shows you a tiny bar that both shows your position and acts as the hint you ask for.

[uid313]

I hope this doesn't become the default on desktop/laptops too.

I am fine with this on tablets, but please not on desktops.

[mark45]

I can't speak for the gnome version but at least the ubuntu version still shows you a tiny bar that both shows your position and acts as the hint you ask for.

Too small, the normal ones are big enough to see them from the start without looking for them

[stqn]

And of course no fix for the broken Gtk3 scrollbars.

[Remdul]

Another solution looking for a problem. Why throw away a concept that has worked fine for ~50 years?

Now here's a problem that needs fixing: 33% of my Linux UI surface area is useless whitespace. For example, I run the Windows version of Inkscape in Wine so I can actually see all of the toolbars on my screen and still have some useful canvas space left. Making scrollbars smaller doesn't help.

[movieman]

Yeah, this was one of the first things I turned off on Ubuntu. I absolutely hate them. I particularly hate this absurd idea of trying to 'save' horizontal space when my display is nearly twice as wide as it is tall.

I'm guessing the next fad in UIs will be a completely white screen which only shows anything other than white when you move the mouse over it.

[enfocomp]

Why is everyone bitching so hard about this? What's wrong with more OPTIONS for the user... some people actually like overlay scrollbars.

If you don't like overlay scrollbars, then don't use them. As long as this isn't the default behavior, just move on if you hate it so much.

[Delgarde]

Yeah, this was one of the first things I turned off on Ubuntu. I absolutely hate them. I particularly hate this absurd idea of trying to 'save' horizontal space when my display is nearly twice as wide as it is tall.

I think it depends on whether you use them primarily as a visual indicator of where you are on a page, or whether you actually use them to scroll up and down. Thin bars are fine for the former case (perfect for small touchscreens where you're scrolling by dragging the entire page), but terrible for the latter case where they're too small to interact with.