[pavlov]

So these proposed blocks are non-overlapping app windows, neatly tiled within the icon grid.

Isn't that basically what Xerox Star did in 1981? http://www.digibarn.com/collections/screenshots/xerox-star-8...

Or -- the horror -- MS Windows 1.0 in 1985: http://fulupik.chez.com/perso4/Images/infor_win101tile2.gif