I agree, it's much harder to read. If anything, it should at least be configurable -- it's always been hard to see the currently selected file, so that's a slight improvement, but overall it's too dark. This is the default L&F on Windows 7:
What I want is a flat white background and a grey or other noticeable color for the currently selected tab.
New tabs look bad with Alloy IDEA Theme. The tabs are too dark and look out of place wtih the rest of the theme. The tabs in some of the panels in IDE settings look better.
i have no problem reading anything, but the blocky outline border tab style looks oldschool - pretty similar to what windows 3.11 / 95 windows look like. you should make them a bit brighter and maybe play around with gradients and maybe round corners and see what happens.
the tabs are not only ugly, but also too big, they take too much space. it seems to me that everything takes more space than necessary - for example tabs on Changes tool window.
actually they got bigger on one axis and smaller on the other. they take up less space (before: half screen, now: 1/3 screen) along the tab bar, but steal some space from idea's inside panels.
my list of suggestions:
make them a bit flatter (pretty much any header could spare a few pixels, too), but keep them tight together as they are now. make them a bit brighter and add a slight gradient. the selected one should have a higher contrast. i don't have a problem spotting one, but i have a good screen and my eyes can see the grid between my screens pixels (they are good, too). on a bad screen, i might have problems. the tabs at the headers inside the tabs are fine (for example the changes-tab) - you can cleary see which one is highlighted and they have a nice gradient. at least on windows 7 with default l&f.
Whats going on? Everything was getting slightly thinner and rounder in the Nika EAPs. The docking buttons were a change but I thought I'd get used to it as the UI got more polish.
Now the beta comes out and there is this freakish theme that is all boxy and Metal-like. Take screenshots of 110.365 and 110.492 (beta) and do a poll to see who thinks which one is a later version.
One aspect I like is the alignment of the tab-height with the side-panel header. Some things I don't like:
The boxy shape does not very work well for tabs - by rounding the top corners, and flaring out the bottom end, you create stronger visual association with the content that the tab is supposed to control. This is something I might get used to.
In side-panels, it is difficult to distinguish the tab from the panel title. I like reducing the visual noise of the two horizontal lines, but there must be another way.
An extreme suggestion is to drop the panel title altogether and use the remaining space ti provide more meaningful tab titles. In most of the panels, the name is obvious from the content.
You can use the Alt+Alt key combo to show the opened side-pane names as overlays.
When we have hidden the main tool bar, The navigatino bar should fill the vertical space between the menu and tabs. Right now we've got two ugly horizontal strips above and below it.
In the main toolbar, the run-configuration and current task dropdowns should align vertically with the row of icons. Right now they are visually "sagging". Perhaps increase the height and move up a bit.
If we hide the main toolbar, the run-configuration and current task dropdowns should align vertically with the row of icons. Right now they are shifted way up. The text baseline is also too high.
The colors buttons/dropdowns highlighting on hover are not derived from the OS theme, which makes them stand out as ugly.
Agreed. I'm using Linux with Alloy Bedoin and find the new colours distracting and hard to read. There is no colour scheme that could make me like the boxy tabs even a little bit.
Could you please provide an option to revert back to the nice thin rounded corners that were available with the previous EAP 110.365?
Another thing to mention in regards to the new colors... On tool windows with tabs, such as the "Changes" tool window, the visual distinction between the tool window's title and a tab you can switch to is so subtle, that without straining, you would be hard press to know there is a difference. For example, In the below screenshot, it looks as if "Changes" is just another tab I can navigate to. And I think the visual distinction needs to be more than just the background color. The tabs should look like tabs within the parent component. So the "Changes" title 'container' needs to be larger than the the tabs. Or the tabs need to contained with in the "Changes" title container.
I'll second that, i'm sorry to say but...I HATE the new ui.
Which platform and LaF are you using?
I am using Linux and LaF: Alloy Bedoin, but I have tried several different LaF but they all have the same dark color...
BTJ
here 2 screenshots from linux:
java.lang.String selected:
project file selected:
it is very hard to see file is selected...
I use Bedoin theme as well.
I agree, it's much harder to read. If anything, it should at least be configurable -- it's always been hard to see the currently selected file, so that's a slight improvement, but overall it's too dark. This is the default L&F on Windows 7:
What I want is a flat white background and a grey or other noticeable color for the currently selected tab.
;ted
New tabs look bad with Alloy IDEA Theme.
The tabs are too dark and look out of place wtih the rest of the theme. The tabs in some of the panels in IDE settings look better.
We're still working on this, so it isn't final yet. Thank you all for the feedback!
i have no problem reading anything, but the blocky outline border tab style looks oldschool - pretty similar to what windows 3.11 / 95 windows look like.
you should make them a bit brighter and maybe play around with gradients and maybe round corners and see what happens.
the tabs are not only ugly, but also too big, they take too much space.
it seems to me that everything takes more space than necessary - for example tabs on Changes tool window.
@meo:
actually they got bigger on one axis and smaller on the other. they take up less space (before: half screen, now: 1/3 screen) along the tab bar, but steal some space from idea's inside panels.
my list of suggestions:
make them a bit flatter (pretty much any header could spare a few pixels, too), but keep them tight together as they are now. make them a bit brighter and add a slight gradient. the selected one should have a higher contrast. i don't have a problem spotting one, but i have a good screen and my eyes can see the grid between my screens pixels (they are good, too). on a bad screen, i might have problems.
the tabs at the headers inside the tabs are fine (for example the changes-tab) - you can cleary see which one is highlighted and they have a nice gradient. at least on windows 7 with default l&f.
Whats going on?
Everything was getting slightly thinner and rounder in the Nika EAPs.
The docking buttons were a change but I thought I'd get used to it as the UI got more polish.
Now the beta comes out and there is this freakish theme that is all boxy and Metal-like.
Take screenshots of 110.365 and 110.492 (beta) and do a poll to see who thinks which one is a later version.
To me, 110.492 definitely looks backward. :(
One aspect I like is the alignment of the tab-height with the side-panel header. Some things I don't like:
Agreed. I'm using Linux with Alloy Bedoin and find the new colours distracting and hard to read. There is no colour scheme that could make me like the boxy tabs even a little bit.
Could you please provide an option to revert back to the nice thin rounded corners that were available with the previous EAP 110.365?
I like the colors but favor the design of 110.365
colors of 10.5 was superior.
Another thing to mention in regards to the new colors... On tool windows with tabs, such as the "Changes" tool window, the visual distinction between the tool window's title and a tab you can switch to is so subtle, that without straining, you would be hard press to know there is a difference. For example, In the below screenshot, it looks as if "Changes" is just another tab I can navigate to. And I think the visual distinction needs to be more than just the background color. The tabs should look like tabs within the parent component. So the "Changes" title 'container' needs to be larger than the the tabs. Or the tabs need to contained with in the "Changes" title container.
Please, try beta2. There are many UI fixes and improvements.
Already installed but I still think the colors are way too dark....
BTJ
We will continue to improve the new UI, thanks!