RANT: FM 9.0

[Chris Despopoulos]

My fundamental problem is that the new windowing model isn't properly exposed in 
the API.  Also, it has some problems.  Open a book, then open all files in 
book.  Especially if it has many files, you get funny results -- the document 
windows nest within each other.  I've raised this issue a number of times, and 
nobody seems to notice.  I can't be the only person experiencing it.  And forget 
about using Maker documents as a GUI for your plugins.  There's just not enough 
control.  


I think the plan is that you're supposed to have all windows fully expanded so 
it looks more like an IDE (or RoboHelp).  I guess that's cool, but you often 
want to see docs side by side so you can copy/paste between them.  I suspect the 
GUI changes were made by formula, rather than using a real design process based 
on:
* User Profiles
* Problem Statements
* Use Cases
* Feature Design

It would be interesting to know how many authors want to work in a system that 
behaves like a coding IDE.  It would be interesting to know how many separate 
use cases the new GUI explicitly addresses.  Or how many problems it fixes.  In 
short, what *are* the wins for this new GUI, compared to the cost?  It could 
well be that the new GUI is well worth it, and I'm just an old fart.  


OTOH, if the plan was to just "make it look like other Adobe products" without 
any underlying design, then it's not surprising that legacy users can't find 
logic behind the new look and feel.  Most other Adobe products are designed for 
things other than text.  I Iguess I need to work with the ID GUI before I make 
any more pronouncements...

cud