The Gimmie panel enhancement project has been proposed for inclusion in GNOME 2.22. Gimmie provides a highly streamlined user interface that exposes GNOME functionality in a logically organized and consistent manner.

The Gimmie interface is structured so that the most frequently used items are easily accessible and additional items can be accessed with only a few clicks. The interface separates functionality into four distinct tabs: one for documents and files, one for applications, one for people and contacts, and a generic system tab that provides access to drives, printers, settings, and other useful features. Gimmie also integrates with a number of prominent GNOME applications like Pidgin and Tomboy.

Gimmie can be used with GNOME in two different ways. The Gimmie panel applet embeds buttons for accessing the main Gimmie tabs directly into the GNOME panel. Gimmie also offers an experimental panel replacement that provides direct access to the Gimmie tabs and also includes a visual task list, a virtual desktop pager, a clock, and a notification area region.

For GNOME 2.22, Gimmie developer Alex Graveley has proposed inclusion of the Gimmie panel applet, but not the Gimmie panel replacement dock. If included in GNOME 2.22, the Gimmie panel applet could become an optional replacement for the conventional GNOME menu applet, which implements the Applications, Places, and System menus seen in the top panel in default GNOME configurations.

The Gimmie panel applet is widely used, and it is currently included in the package management repositories of several mainstream Linux distributions, including the upcoming Ubuntu 7.10.

"Looking towards the future, Gimmie is designed to move towards the Online-Desktop model, while preserving access to the features of the existing desktop," wrote Gravely in his proposal. "This is a niche which none of the new Panel or navigation menu alternatives (let alone other desktops) are pursuing, and one which I consider pivotal if GNOME is to remain pertinent."

Other popular panel and navigation menu alternatives include the Ubuntu System Panel, Novell's Slab menu, and the Avant Window Navigator.

Gimmie offers a very powerful and innovative paradigm for GNOME interaction, but there are still a number of deficiencies that have to be resolved. My biggest complaint with Gimmie is the lack of support for effective keyboard navigation. Gravely also highlights several issues that will have to be resolved before Gimmie can be included in GNOME 2.22. Placeholders for unimplemented features like Flickr and Google Office integration will have to be removed. Several experimental user interface features that aren't sufficiently robust yet will also have to be removed, particularly the timeline widget.

Although Gravely doesn't personally have enough time to be able to focus on maintaining and improving Gimmie, he notes that community contributors have been working hard and that a new release is imminent. Pending resolution of the minor remaining issues, I'm really looking forward to seeing Gimmie included in GNOME 2.22. Gimmie's tightly-integrated interface represents an important incremental step towards the concepts that will embody the next generation GNOME desktop.