So far I never considered using Inkscape for a print job.

I already used Inkscape for printjobs. however, I needed to export to png because of missing CMYK support.

Still Inkscape is a powerful tool for the printsector, if CMYK and multipage support is added. So far I love using it to create a concept for a poster or magazine layout, and then I'll finish it in InDesign or Scribus.

being used to these publishing softwares, I totally agree with the idea of having multiple pages in one canvas, just scrolling down... It is logical that the paper size should be shown, because a user will want to know, what the finished product will look like. There then should be a printing margin, a layout margin (framing the main place for putting element) as well as an adjustable bleed. A view setting will allow the user to hide everything but the pages and also blank the parts on the page, that are not printable. A menu like the layer menu will allow easy navigation between pages.

As for the tabbed vs. multiple windows interface thing: Somebody said before that with the tabbed interface it must be also possible to open several windows. As long as that is ensured, there is nothing wrong with that approach whatsoever. Also a split-pane view could be implemented with the tabbed interface (showing all tabs above/under each pane).

As for the docked tool windows: This really would be a great step forward in helping to clean the interface. I talked about this before in several bug reports, suggesting a docked property box like the one scribus has, but docked.

Thanks for Inkscape!

David