I use Gnome, and I prefer Gnome over other desktops. I recently upgraded to Gnome 2.6. I like a lot of the changes, and overall it is a very good upgrade. However, I have one major gripe. The new incarnation of Gnome opens a simplistic looking "File Browser" window for every folder you open. So if you open a folder, then click a folder again, you have two windows open. Give it a few minutes, and you have 20 windows open. This is reminiscent of Windows 95.

Some people like it. Conversely, it makes me want to rip the flesh from my body to cleanse the nasty feeling that exudes from the inner reaches of my soul. Everyone is different, and I understand this. I am fine with choice, but I cannot understand why the Gnome developers don't place this obvious preference in the PREFERENCES!!!!! Come on, even Windows Explorer has the "Open each folder in a new windows" preference. This isn't a corporate vs. techy user issue, this is simply a preference.

Here's the scenario for someone to change this simple preference:

1. Somehow *know* to go to Applications >> System Tools >> Configuration Editor. 90% of people are never even going to make it this far. But for sake of arguement, let's just assume someone does without reading it on a forum somewhere. Configuration Editor is an application very much like Windows' "regedit" (Registry Editor). It's the kind of ugly beast that only a developer should ever see.
2. Continue despite a message warning them that the Configuration Editor can screw their system up. Those that made it past step 1 may very well bail out here.
3. Find the entry.
   1. No, it's not under the "GNOME" heading, where most of us would look.
   2. Hey, It's not under the "desktop" heading either!!! Even though this entry has a "gnome" subheading, it's not here!!!!
   3. It's not under the "system" entry.
   4. Well crap, where the heck is it. Oh, it's under "apps". Of course. Because someone should somehow magically know that the File Browser is IN FACT a separate app, not part of the desktop itself!!!!
4. Now if we made it this far, we have a list of apps. But where is the one called "File Browser"?!?!?!? It's not there. Even though the Gnome guys have hidden the "File Browser"'s real name, Nautilus, throughout the entire desktop, users should somehow magically KNOW that the "File Browser" is actually Nautilus!!!! Wow, intuitive. Oh wait, maybe I'm the 1/1000 users who read the About box in the "File Browser" that confusingly says "Nautilus" instead of "File Browser". Of course, everyone reads About boxes, don't they? And they memorize them to boot.
5. Now we are in the right territory, but wait....which subcategory is it? "desktop" would make sense right? This is a desktop integration thing. No, of course not. Oh there it is...."preferences". I love this Configuration Editor, let's get rid of all in-application preference menus.
6. Now we are staring at 30+ preference entries, all with cryptic names. Which one do I need? "default_folder_viewer"...everything is cryptic so far, why not this one? Nope, that's not it. "side_pane_view", that's got to be it....I know the File Browser used to have a side pane. No, no, that's wrong too. "start_with_sidebar", "start_with_location_bar", "start_with_status_bar", "start_with_toolbar". Hmm, that's what I used to have on Gnome 2.4, but those are already on, even though I don't see them in Gnome 2.6. Somehow, I should just KNOW that the right preference is "always_use_browser", even though to me this sounds like I will be using my Web Browser to navigate my hard drive.

This is rediculous. The only way I knew what to do was by reading online message boards. The average user isn't going to know how to do this. My mother would be lost if I even tried to explain this over the phone. She'd never figure it out on her own, and with good reason. This is the kind of crappy, thoughtless design that keeps users on Windows. I think of this in the same sense that Eric Raymond blasted Cups in his article The Luxury of Ignorance: An Open-Source Horror Story.

The difference is, I'm not a well known open-source guru, so it's doubtful the Gnome folks will take notice of what I have to say.