[Gimp-developer] 2.6 roadmapping, the UI part of it...

[Guillermo Espertino]

I understand. It's clear that everyone's preference may vary on this 
subject:

-Photoshop users will ask for floating windows nested in a container window.
-Other users will ask for tabbed windows in a single window.
-Gimp orthodox users will ask for individual windows

Obviously it's impossible to please everyone. But we should look for a 
consistent solution that, at least, doesn't exclude completely a group 
of users.
Reading all the comments (including Sven's saying that tabbed windows 
isn't too difficult to implement) I can see that maybe a switchable 
interface between tabbed and floating would be the most appropriate 
solution. The question here is how to make them live together without 
damaging the UI consistency. And how to deal with some of the current 
problems with overlapping windows (how the utility windows obstaculize 
the working canvas when it is maximized, dragging the canvas beyond the 
image borders to avoid overlapping, etc).
But tabbed windows only don't help. A tabbed window should be able to be 
detached as a floating window and that's were my concern is. This change 
(just take my idea and add tabs to the document window) may look not too 
radical but I'm sure that it brings some collateral risks with it that 
must be carefully addressed before going ahead.

I'll try to design some mockups with a possible solution, but this 
definitively needs the expert eye of Peter, Kamila and the UI team.

Regards,
Gez.