Metro

[Jershaun]

I'd like vw to have a more pc interface. I'd like to see the ribbon interface introduced for the short term however for the long term in Windows 8, I'd like to see the Metrostyle interface incorporated.

[Chris D]

Metro's nice, but it's optimised for phones and tablets. Can't see how it would work with CAD/BIM really...

[Dieter @ DWorks]

I would really like that (interactive) ribbon. Although I think VW's user interface is very good and appealing.

A ribbon would be very nice if it could display the options you have for the selected object etc...

Metro is a no-go because it's not intended for professional productivity applications. It can however look more like Metro in the sense of style.

[maarten.]

I don't like the ribbon at all, it's a waste of space imo. Especially the place they put it irritates the hell out of me. I still don't get it why it has to be on top of the screen (the height of the modern monitors are already limited) while we have (in relation to the height) more then enough space at the sides of the screen... It's not because we have scroll wheels now that it's okay to design something that forces the user to scroll 1/5 more...

So, instead of a ribbon: A floating Mode Bar, a floating (custom) palette, a floating OIP, etc... All accessible with a right click + ctrl (or alt or shift or...) would speed up a lot because you don't have to travel across your screen all the time to click on the wanted option/input field/tool/...

And you'll have a lot more place on your screen for the actual drawing.

[Jershaun]

I actually don't like a MAC interface where the user is always shifting palettes therefore I wouldn't be in favour of "floating" palettes. I like everything to be docked.

[AndiACD]

i'm with Maartn on this one, right click options would seem much more practical than another "Space Hogging" toolbar.

More drawing space, not less . . . . . . .

[maarten.]

I actually don't like a MAC interface where the user is always shifting palettes therefore I wouldn't be in favour of "floating" palettes. I like everything to be docked.

Maybe I misphrased "floating", but i meant that the palette/bar/... would stick on the mouse pointer. So, like the contextual right-click menu.

(and don't get me wrong, i'm also not a big fan of the not dockable palettes on mac...)

[Christiaan]

Indeed, I'd like a unified window interface:

http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=87772

[Jershaun]

Anything Mac is just not for me. People speak of valuable screen space-the unified window interface eats up screen space-it shows everything.

The Ribbon shows only tools/buttons that are required for each active command therefore it's contextual. Tools/Buttons that aren't required aren't visible thus freeing up screen space.

[Christiaan]

I'm up for contextual. A unified window and this ribbon thing doesn't seem incompatible to me.

[grant_PD]

The heads up display in C4D is great. Put your mouse over the item you want to work with, hit the V key, and a ring of drop down menus appears around your mouse. I wish we had that in VW.

[grant_PD]

I'd also recommend stealing their "quantize" functionality. So, say I'm selecting and dragging an element in 3d. If I press shift, I can constrain the axes, but if I press shift and cntrl, then the movement is constrained to the axes AND in increments of a specific unit (feet, inches, mm, cm, 6", you get to pick!).