Very much with you on this, guys. Touchscreens have thier place, notably for 
small displays or kiosks (or other places where separate mice etc. are 
impractical), and the GUI design does change to suit them - as it should.
However, the rest of the time (in my case, as near to "all the time" as makes 
no odds) I use a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Now, I may be told that this is 
archaic, but it's actually a pretty good solution which is quick and accurate. 
And this allows for small icons, and more "real-estate" for programs.
Another thought, you remember the way that RiscOS (particularly 3.7) handled 
applications? a folder with a ! at the start of the name? and a toolbox of 
applications on the iconbar? Let's revisit that. That system was nice.
At the moment, I'm glad that I'm using KDE. It seems to be an island of sanity 
in a sea of "who can out-do each other" lunacy.
My 2p.
Tim B.
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