Ah, I've skimmed this thread a bit and I thought the conversation about removing the apply button was just in general. I think having the apply button is useful, just not in dialogs, but I understand that this decision has already been made. Could the restore defaults and reset be added to the dialogs menu instead of as a button. I think it's rare enough for a user to want to restore defaults that it doesn't have to be shown front and center.

with respect to the reset buttons, defaults, etc. that might be redundant or unnecessary for some users. How about something like this?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0wo2msmt30f46u1/dia-buttons.jpg


PS: I am using the google translator so sorry for my (bad) English

scummos wrote:Hm, that's not what "Defaults" does, it shoud load the default ("factory") settings. That's useul, isn't it?

The "Defaults" button is indeed useful for when you have screwed up your settings, but "Reset" is a separate button which only undoes changes made since the dialog was opened/ the last time "Apply" was clicked.

colomar wrote:

scummos wrote:Hm, that's not what "Defaults" does, it shoud load the default ("factory") settings. That's useul, isn't it?

The "Defaults" button is indeed useful for when you have screwed up your settings, but "Reset" is a separate button which only undoes changes made since the dialog was opened/ the last time "Apply" was clicked.

Hm, I never consciously noticed that one. It can go away, I guess.

The reset and restore defaults buttons are confusing in KCM's with multiple tabs because I never know if it's resetting just the changes on the selected tab, or if it's doing it on all tabs of the KCM.

I too think that "Reset" is useless and perhaps a bit misleading, even, for reason colomar pointed out.

As for existence of "Apply" button, I much like how in GNOME and OS X get to see changes the moment I change something. In KDE, I often change one thing, then click Apply to see what it does, change another thing, click Apply again, change third thing, click Apply etc ad nauseum. Then there is that dialog when trying to change view after doing changes asking if to Apply or discard changes, which is really annoying because some things provide preview, so I may preview theme by clicking it, then just select the previous theme and when trying to exit without actually making a single change the dialog pops up asking if I want to apply changes. Duh!

Possibly dangerous settings which could make sytem unusable like desktop rendering and monitors give a dialog with countdown that automatically reverts in case something goes wrong. Apply should be reserved to such settings, not trivial ones where seeing effect instantly is desirable.

Exhibit 1: GNOME monitor setup setting


Exhibit 2: GNOME search location settings