For those of you who have not been following Mental's work, be aware that he's going to be merging it in soon - probably this evening.
The new SDI-based interface feels *quite* *different* from Sodipodi. Confusingly so. Things are in very different locations than you're used to.
But this is all by intent. We have discussed the CSDI / SDI technicalities, the importance of HIG compliance, the desire to work like this app or that, etc. etc. This work has been going on in a branch for the past week, with screenshots on the website for about as long, so there's been some time for early testing. We are ONLY going to know whether all this theory will work in reality if we each TRY IT OUT.
Some will ask why we are making these significant changes, and that is a good question. Stated briefly there are several reasons:
1. It significantly distinguishes Inkscape from Sodipodi 2. It is in keeping with GNOME HIG standards (the Sodipodi approach isn't). 3. It has been requested by a number of Inkscape users. 4. It forces us to really rethink the UI layout, including little things that we have tended to take for granted but that need to be re-examined. 5. It's better to make the change now while the project is still young and won't disrupt a large existing user base (other than ourselves!)
Regarding testing, some tips. Well thought out, fairly worded observations are what we're looking for, moreso than gut reactions. Things are still fluid at this point so well thought out comments can have an important long-term impact. Take some time with your evaluation and think about how we can make it more powerful for skilled users, and intuitive enough to help novices find their way to what they need.
You will be able to check it out from developer CVS soonish, or anonymous CVS within a day or so. We also hope to cut a pre-release and RPM's to make testing easier for folks.
Bryce