adondai

Yeah I have been reading his blog, and sounds good =) Actually I had another question... Paint.NET ihas so much functionality yet is such a tiny download - 1.52MB, if you compare that to other small applications like... off the top of my head - Auslogic Defragmentor (1.57MB) how can Paint.NET be so small? Does it come down the quality of the code, or do some types of software lend themselves to different file sizes? As in why would a simple defragmenting app be slightly larger than something like Paint.NET?

I used Fireworks for years, then when I lost my copy I began using Paint.NET. I used that for a year and liked it a lot - but a little while ago I had the chance to get a free student copy of Microsoft Expression Design which I decided to use instead seeing as it was a design application worth a couple hundred dollars. Perhaps it is better - I really wouldn't know, for me personally I didn't like the UI much at all and I don't need particularly complicated functionality. I gave up on that and decided to give the new updated Paint in Windows 7 a go - after all, like I said, I don't need particularly complicated functionality. However now, after a couple weeks of that I have to wonder - how did Rick Brewster manage to create an application which is so perfectly combines a simplicity with the additional advanced functionality when needed? It perfectly suits people like me who need a lot more than simple cutting and pasting, but don't need all the extra advanced functionality of programs like the Gimp, Photoshop or Expression Design. Not only that - but Paint.NET is tiny, fast and stable - something I really couldn't say about Expression Design. So I'm back to using Paint.net and loving it =) looking forward to future releases.

Don't be so harsh. They updated the colour pallet and increased the undo limit I'll admit I don't used the software to it's full capabilities. I use it for any photo/image manipulating that I need to do, but nothing complex like I imagine a lot of you do. Mainly some filtering and cutting etc So yeah, I can't really argue with that Probably true

Agreed... that's always a major hassle with any kind of UI change... I guess you have to toss up whether the change brings about a strong enough productivity boost to be worth it. I know with Vista it took me a good 3 or 4 months to really begin to feel at home with a different kind of workflow, however once I had adjusted the benefits where huge productivity-wise.

I'll apologies in advance for this reply becuase I'm guessing it's brought up a lot (?). I'm just curious though as to what the reasons are for being against the Ribbon UI? I fully agree with the post in 'Popular Feature requests': "Everyone who has asked for this seems to think that the ribbon UI is some easy feature that automatically boosts the utility of the application and that it is appropriate for everything from MS Word, to Windows Vista, to World of Warcraft. It is not" However I would have thought an application like Paint.NET it would suit it fairly well and be useful. If you consider the current toolbar and file menu set-up they take up nearly as much room as the Ribbon UI and as with all Windows apps include a lot duplicate functionality in the menus and toolbars. Additionally you have all the extra windows popups with I find myself having to move around a lot when working on projects. All of this would fit very well into the ribbon, very much as can be seen in the Paint screenshot above (real or not) Just a thought, I'm sure theres more to it