[kitsunesoba]

Rather than macOS, as a long time Mac user I actually find GNOME most similar to iPadOS. It's almost exactly what one would get if they were asked to turn iPadOS into a desktop OS.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

Which part is similar?

[kitsunesoba]

Note that I'm talking about the stock experience (no extensions or even gnome-tweak-tool).

- Top bar which acts as a status bar rather than a global menubar

- Somewhat modal UX that works best with keeping 1-3 windows on screen at all times

- No way to minimize windows

- Inclination towards gestures over keystrokes

- Simplified mobile-esque app UIs that eschew menubars entirely in favor of hamburger menus

- Greatly reduced levels of configurability relative to other DEs

- Heavily padded widgets that seem better suited to touch than KB+M

- Use of touch-inspired designs like switches over checkboxes

- No traditional desktop

…among others.

Don't get me wrong, it's very polished which is what leads me to use it, but it's not really a traditional desktop environment.

[smoldesu]

Speaking for myself here:

- No AppIndicators in default spec

- All UI is scaled to work for touch interfaces

- Default windowing support amounts to split-screen

- App "icon" style launcher, even using the same sliding-widget model people loathe on iPad

- Quick-settings menu pane in the top corner, almost identical to the iOS/iPad one in GNOME 40

I could go on, but I think it's safe to say that GNOME (especially GNOME 40) is derivative of iPad UI design. Other visual cues (dock, lockscreen, stylesheet, calendar, etc.) are pretty plainly inspired by the Mac UI.

[linuxlonewolf]

The AppIndicator support is being worked on: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xdg/xdg-specs/-/issues/84