GSoC/GCI Archive
Google Code-in 2010 Haiku

Create a more gripping screenshot slideshow for the website.

completed by: aergus

mentors: Niels Sascha Reedijk, humdinger

The current screenshot tour at the website is a bit dull. We need some more exciting screenshots showing all the great features that sets Haiku appart.

When images or videos are part of a screenshot, they have to be under a compatible license, e.g. Creative Commons, or better, take your own images/videos.

Be prepared to create some "fake" files, e.g. for showing results of a query for Person files etc.

I suggest to use Haiku's default background to keep the file size down and not to distract from the shown feature.

Here are a few ideas on what could be shown:

  • Haiku is ready for an international audience. [locale, keymap, time]
  • Haiku comes with a slew of useful little applications, tools and preferences.
  • WebPositive is a small and nimble modern browser.
  • MediaPlayer takes care of your audio and video collection.
  • Pervasive multithreading keeps the system responsive under heavy load.
  • Up to 32 workspaces provide the room to spread out; each with its own resolution, color depth and background image.
  • All applications share support for file formats through data translators.
  • Vector icons resize beautifully.
  • Replicants integrate one application into another, here the ActivityMonitor into Tracker's desktop.
  • Drill down the file system hierarchy to open or to copy/move/link a file or folder.
  • Metadata ("attributes") are editable in Tracker and are useful, among other things, to manage your emails or music collection.
  • Queries use indexed attributes to quickly find their quarry. Results are updated live if a new file arrives that matches the search criteria. [email+find window]
  • Drag & drop everywhere. [showimage clipout]
  • The Deskbar keeps track of running programs and can be relocated to all corners or as a bar at the top or bottom.

Currently our screenshot module at the website doesn't allow for captions. As this may change in the future, it's a good idea to come up with a short and precise description for every shot.

The screenshot tour should be done using a current nightly image. As these don't contain the user guide and the browser Web+ by default, you can install them manually by typing in a Terminal window "installoptionalpackage Welcome WebPositive". For other available optional packages, use "installoptionalpackage -l".

3rd party software (mostly originally coded for BeOS and therefore not always working on Haiku) can be found at Haikuware. Also good for ideas may be a related OSNews article.