@Patrick: I’m sure it’s all those things, but, being cynical, probably based more on popularity and sales than on actual user research. Like reality shows – are they on television because people actually want to watch them, or do people watch them just because they’re on?

For my purposes though, we don’t really have any organization on the desktop – just the icons. Fences seems to be different yes, but also better than nothing at all.

@Veronica: I wondered about that feature – I think them disappearing would make me tense (or at least take some getting used to). But then again, even during my “off desk” time patrons can still see me, so visual distractions generally are not what keep me from being able to focus.