On Stuart's rant, I want to add my distaste for the whole pod thing. Not only has it taken me a long time to find a view (or whatever they call it) that doesn't get in my way, there are some awful bugs in the pods. Try deleting multiple variables or multiple conditions. After you delete one, the next one in the list appears to be selected, but it's not. Some other variable further down the list may actually be deleted. And if you delete too many, Frame crashes. (BTW-the work-around for both of these problems is to click in the body of the document between each deletion.) And this not just me, we have several writers working on the project who complained about this problem. Also, I hate how easy it is to accidentally collapse a catalog. Then to reopen it, you have expand it and drag it out of the pod. I just find the whole interface clunky and cumbersome and taking up too much screen real estate.
--------------------------------------------- <rant> Bang on, Mike. I'm also addressing this message to Kapil Verma, who was recently introduced as FM's product manager. The low-contrast, monochrome GUI in FM 9 is not just butt-ugly, it's HARD TO USE. It GETS IN THE WAY. It PREVENTS ME FROM EASILY ACHIEVING MY GOALS. There may be a valid argument for low-contrast grey interfaces in programs like Illustrator and Photoshop, where the user's perception of colours in the working document could be adversely influenced by colours and contrasts in the GUI. But FM is NOT a graphics design program. The precaution of eliminating colour and contrast in the GUI, if that's what it is, is misplaced, unjustified, and highly counterproductive. Or if it's a marketing decision, originating in the "imperative" that Adobe products must all look the same to protect "the brand," remember that Henry Ford's user-defying mantra, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black" has been discredited as a marketing strategy for an awfully long time. I strongly recommend, Kapil, that you call together the graphic designers (and marketing "branders") who have obviously had overwhelming influence on this GUI, thank them for their efforts, and politely show them the door. Then get some USER INTERACTION experts and USABILITY experts on board and set them to undoing the damage that the artsy/marketsy folks have inflicted. The world (of technical writing) would be a better place. </rant> Thanks, Jess