Linden Lab backs down on forcing Dazzle on our eyes:

In an announcement about the new release candidate Ramzi Linden states:
'Many of you asked for the Dazzle theme to be optional, and we are glad to tell you we have rearranged our plans and resources to now work on just that. We had wanted to do theme switching originally, but had been focused on stability. We realize now we don’t want Residents to opt for the older viewer just to keep the classic look– where you would continue to suffer from bugs that have been fixed in the newer viewer.'
This new iteration (the 39th) does NOT have the optional User Interface hopefully in the next few releases there will be progress on it:
'We would now like to direct more development on the first stages of the Skinning project (this is the UI flexibility that brought a new Dazzle look to the viewer). To start, we are now developing a solution to VWR-5059 - “Ability to switch between the new/old theme” - and will ship that before finalizing the official Second Life Viewer 1.20.'

My first reaction and that of friends has been WOW a Linden actually listened to the widespread concerns about Dazzle and the general discontent over the way it works, even for those with perfect 20/20 vision its been a huge cause of dismay. Sometimes LL gets it right.
Also to be noted is the length of time taken to roll out this iteration; some may complain but I would much rather it actually worked the way it's intended before it is forced on the multitudes and drives more people away.
One comment I noted was that working on Dazzle is just 'prettying up the UI' instead of fixing the problems of stability etc, well i suppose if driving half of the userbase away because of dazzle reduces the strain on the asset servers then leaving dazzle as it is could be a good idea and would reduce the workload at LL, but it should be noted:
'The themes themselves are minor effects for sure; but getting to a place of having them means real hard work to get the User Interface abstracted will be under the hood. It’s something that Dazzle Project started and the Skinning Project would ultimately take much farther. Imagine that the UI code is general enough that you can replace the colors on the fly… Then imagine it is general enough that you can take out buttons that you don’t want (or put buttons where you want them.) Someday (still far away) the UI is abstracted enough to run windows outside the 3D view of the world. This is the intent of Skinning, and starts with a tiny step.
We’re committed to improving the User Interface of Second Life– part of that is getting the code to catch up!'
There also seems to be some people who think the complaints are about DAZZLE as a whole; Dazzle is a lot more than just a change of colours and I love a lot of the new features of Dazzle, but I, like many, find the colour the main problem with it. Other issues pointed out are the IM tabs not blinking so you don't actually realise someone is talking to you and removal of the tools button from the main UI until you edit something - those are just minor gripes compared with the colour issue. Overall DAZZLE is a change for the better ONCE the colour and contrast issues are sorted out.
The main point here is that Linden Lab actually LISTENED to a majority of Residents, our shouts for a CHOICE were heard, most iterations of the main viewer are COMPULSORY
so for once LL have taken notice and I say well done!

moreless

800,000L Viewer Interface Contest

"I am inviting the creative, brilliant, thoughtful, insightful community of SL to submit designs for a new Second Life client. We can call it a “newbie viewer” or a “junior client” - whatever terms you want to give"

With the problems seen with the new 'Dazzle' user interface this contest is a breath of fresh air, run by Dusan Writer, this gives us a chance to show how we would design the UI, maybe a simplified version for casual visitors or those coming for just a short period with the ability to upgrade at a later date.
The designs will be judged and the top 10 will go through to a presentation of their ideas - you don't have to make it, or code it, just show how it could and explain your rationale.

- Submit no later than 11:59 PM (2359hrs) SL time June 29, 2008
- Announcement of finalists: July 6th
- Presentation by finalists to judging panel: July 12th
- Winners announced: July 14th

See Dusan Writers blog for full contest details and rules.

Dusan states the reasons for doing this:
"I’m doing this for a bunch of reasons. First…I don’t believe we should just rely on the Lindens, we’ve talked about this a lot, and it’s time to see what the people who put the meaning behind “Your World, Your Imagination” can come up with. I’m sure the Lindens are looking at similar ideas, but would also appreciate a wider dialog in the community.
It would be NICE if the Lindens or someone picked up on some of the ideas and discussion that this might generate. If not them, maybe the OpenSim people - whoever, the important thing, I believe, is to bring a discussion about the viewer into the open, and sometimes the best way to do that is to put a few Lindens (um, the currency not the people, I have no intention of cooking the Lindens) into the pot to make it interesting.
I don’t really want to develop a viewer. I have no particular incentive to do so. It’s not to say I WON’T….I might be willing to, I think it could be both a headache and a blast. I DO have an interest in seeing more people come to SL, even for a one-off event…and stay. And I think offering a simple viewer - one say that students might use, or schools, or just some casual surfer who wants to try a “simple SL”. It’s good for all of us.
And finally, I think it’s a great way to hear from people who can do this kind of thing because I like to meet people with this kind of talent. Hey, I talk a good game, but that doesn’t mean I know how to DO much of anything. I like meeting people who know how to do stuff."

If you are design inclined take a look, it could be worth a lot of Lindens but more than that, we could get a simple newbie friendly UI that would be much easier for new visitors to SecondLife.

moreless