Tomek,
I too was very upset about the menu but I'm not
anymore because of the TAB key. With the new design, I
can have all of my windows for art and just press TAB
and the toolbox and the dialogs go away leaving free
access to the art. When I need to click something in
the toolbox or a layer dialog, I just hit TAB again and
they're back and on top. Meanwhile I have free access
to the menus all the time at the top of the drawing
surface. Even more often, I don't even reach up for
the menu because the right click menu has whatever I
need without having to reach up to the top of the
window. This works whether I'm using a mouse, my
touchpad on my laptop, or have my Wacom tablet plugged
in doing serious work. The workflow is now faster,
easier and more intuitive. So, now I'm calmed down.
The thing I was so mad about won me over. I hope it
does for you to. Single window mode is wonderful too
with a couple of caveats I warn about below. I use it
now on Linux. The only difference is that the toolbox
and dialogs are attached to the sides of the art. I
still press TAB and make them go away now so I have the
most free surface.
There's still a fairly serious usability issue that
comes in only when using single window mode, but they
don't promise they have the usability all worked out
yet in 2.7. Here's the problem. When you press TAB
not only do the toolbox and dialogs go away, but it
rudely resizes your drawing surface to the size of the
image and moves the window so that whatever was under
your cursor is no longer under it. I didn't ask for
that, it's just something the programmer threw in as a
sadistic effect. It combines in insidious ways with
the use of autoraise. (Autoraise makes whatever
window is under the cursor become active and raise
above other windows when you pause over it for a short
while.) If you're working on a small image like an
icon or button for a web site, it strikes:
1) You press TAB
2) The toolbox and dialogs disappear - good.
3) The nice big drawing surface that you sized just how
you wanted it (on purpose!) resizes small and to one
corner of the screen. The image is suddenly no longer
under your cursor! It not only resizes but moves! The
bigger your screen and the smaller the image the more
startling this is. (Maybe the top left stays where it
was and all the rest moves up to it, I don't know or
care, I just want it to not apparently resize, nor
move. If that means they have to really move it over
by the amount of the width of the vanishing toolbox, so
what, it's a simple calculation. The drawing surface
should appear to be the same size, and the image I'm
working on in the same place, after the sides
disappear. If they want to make it bigger to use the
space that toolbox and dialogs freed up that's
acceptable too, as long as the image stays in the same
place under my cursor and the drawing surface at least
the same size. Just don't go all tiny on me!)
4) Whatever other window you had behind GIMP (maybe a
fullscreen web browser that you flip to when you need a
break or to do some research) is now to your surprise
under the cursor and autoraises and covers the drawing
surface. There's actually time to move over and keep
that from happening if you're not too surprised, but
the window is now a tiny thing over in the top left!
It's nowhere NEAR your cursor! When would THAT ever
be your hearts desire? No! You would obviously want
the same pixel that WAS under your cursor to STILL be
under your cursor. It's MUCH worse than having to
reach up for a menu. It's mean and intrusive.
5) Wail and gnash the teeth pulling out the hair and
cursing the programmer.
I don't have any idea why they decided the thing to do
is to resize the drawing surface to the image size when
hiding the toolbox and dialogs. They don't when you
aren't using the single window mode, and there seems no
reason for it. Probably just a brain fart. Hopefully
they'll work that out before 2.8. The only other
remaining issue I have is that GIMP forgets that you
wanted single window mode each time you tuck it away.
It's funny that I was so attached to the toolbar menu.
When I first started to use GIMP I hated it. There was
a menu on the drawing window and a menu on the
toolbar. I had no idea which to use for what and it
was just confusing. Eventually the bad interface
became familiar and I knew where everything was and
then when it was gone I was UPSET! lol. The one now
is really better.
best regards,
Patrick
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