The true problem with the WL UI (For years) - I believe - has been the unrelenting ability for PG to “let go” of it and let someone (anyone) - who really knows how to properly design a UI - design the UI.
This is not meant to be a slight or a direct slam - but it is painfully clear that we either have a case of a true “one man show” as in - no one but PG can touch anything or code anything in WL or if there is someone actually working with PG on the WL UI - they are not being allowed to do anything to join the 2010’s.
As before and I will say it again - WL is the undisputed king of process - the actual “doing” of the stuff. But in this day and age of drastically simplified (and killer efficient) UIs from tablets to smartphones and beyond - it’s painfully obvious that all application UIs that truly work are getting more simple - NOT more complex.
WL is by far - the only app that I use now in my current workflow - that still clings to the mid 90’s Windows 95 MDI (16 windows open at once) paradigm that makes it such a kludge to work with.
WL8 is slightly better than 7 but it still needs a true drastic rework to gain any efficiency to keep up with say - a Studio One or other UI out there that are true joys to work with.
Personally - now that I am moved over to WL8 - I have fallen right back to how I worked in 7 - which is to painfully (and gingerly) assemble my few critical workspaces and then live in fear that if I touch or open anything else - I will ruin my workspace.
But until PG decides to make changes for the better (and I mean so far beyond “better” that WL9 bears little to no resemblance to WL8 or 7 or 6 etc) - it is what it is.
@vocalpoint: I read regularly your comment that wavelab is fashioned according to windows 95 times but i wish to recall that i disagree with this point of view in the same time i don’t want to spend time justifying my point of view…
Although I think for the most part this discussion has been respectful, I must say I’m a bit taken aback by some of the comments… they seem far too defensive.
I’ve loved using WL since v3. But I dislike the current UI and I too would vote for a far simpler UI. I just want to be clear it was not my intention to start a food fight. I sincerely thought the WL8 UI was going to be significantly different from WL7 otherwise I wouldn’t have posted my question.
I do -not- spend all my day in WL and I have found the learning curve to be quite long. If I did, I would probably find that easier to take. Clearly there are advantages geared towards full=time users which I cannot fully appreciate.
In short: I’m just voting for a different direction based on -my- needs. If the majority of your users find the new look more useful? Well, that’s my bad luck. I don’t get it, but who am I to argue with the market.
You can make wavelab simpler. If you dont need all the information displayed in the various tool windows, then just close them. Remove the command bar you dont need, etc.
Now, you could argue, rightly, that wavelab could come with various configurations to match various people sensitivity.
I’m totally happy with Wavelab’s UI - took a lot of getting used to after v6 but v8 is perfect. It’s so customisable, I think many ‘new’ users just don’t expect to be able to make all those choices themselves. And I still don’t care how the icons look, but we’ve had that discussion many times before.
I also don’t have any problem with how WL8 looks - to me it feels just good and it allows me to arrange all the elements the way I need them to be.
And I am definitely against any radical changes as seen in Cubase 7…
You are entitled to your comments and I am entitled to mine. However - please note that I am not the only one that uses the “Windows 95” descriptor when viewing your interfaces.
That said - WL8 works for what I need it to do - I do not have to like it to get my work done.
I was gonna bugger off as there are clearly some polarised opinions (what else is new these days?)
BTW: This is actually surprising to me. I really did not expect my post to be so controversial—frankly I thought -most- users would have the same objections I do.
Anyhoo, I just spent an hour futzing with WL8 and frankly, it’s still as UN-self-evident as WL7. The new Command Bars are, in themselves almost worth the $99. As silly as it sounds: just being able to have stuff like the Basic CD and Markers on the top tool bar -MATTERS- to me.
I love what WL does, but it’s so different in operation from the other Win programs I use that I literally have to crack the manual just to figure out how to navigate. Again,for those who live inside it, fair play! My 2p is that, when it was Win only, it behaved more strictly like a Windows program… and I like that.
I know this brings out the defensiveness, but I use about 50 programs a day… If every guy comes out with his own UI, even if it’s ‘da bomb’ I may not use it because… I use about 50 programs a day! Call me ADHD or stupid or -whatever- but the whole point of ‘Windows’ or ‘Mac’ to -me- is -standardisation-. I just don’t have the brainspace to learn too many drastically different UIs. And WL -is- drastically different from any other program I use.
Just being able to have the Basic CD icon on the top at all times may seem trivial to you ‘power users’ but it’s one less thing for me to think about. (I got -enough- to think about just trying to stay alive making music.) In short: I’ll wait for WL9. Dear Philippe, I hope you’ll think on what I’m saying—with the most respect. ANYTHING you can do to simplify, standardise is appreciated. Perhaps if you could just make it so that there is -one- toolbar and allow me to put -whatever- buttons I want on it; ie. no more ‘Special Tools’ or other ‘categories’ of toolbars. It really wouldn’t take much to make people like me happy… just little things like that.
One last thing: All the nomenclature turns me off. Having to remember the difference between a ‘Command Bar’ and a ‘Workspace’ and a ‘Special Tool Window’ is a drag. To me, if you need that large a taxonomy of controls, you start to lose me. As I wrote before, maybe I’m just not quick enough.
Well, that could be because it is a specialized mastering and audio editing program I guess. You would surely want and expect it to be different from something that was a tracking and mixing program if you are mastering records … which is the primary purpose of the DAW.
I think the discussion has been pretty empathic and responsive, not so much defensive. A lot of us have been expressing similar dismay as the OP with 7, but relief with 8. There is a basic law at work, however: more power equals more decisions…and those decisions can, as suggested above, be toward more simplicity…or toward a new workflow. I think most us (I know certainly that I am) are still experiencing a bit of a learning curve with 8, but finding the whole thing to be fairly logical and inclusive, rather than arbitrary and confusing. Thus the relief.
There is a natural tendency toward continuity and comfort, and the pre-Mac WL had that in spades, even as it added features.
And, every program in existence has more than one way to achieve a single operation…including WL 3 through 6. That still holds with WL8. It is just different enough that it requires some adjustment. You can choose to go that way or not. It is all personal decision making.
I know I was VERY disturbed when I first had to cast around for an alternative to Microsound, but also remember vividly that I had to, because my old program was not moving fast enough into the file sharing era that was upon us…and was then grateful to have found something that was similar…but better
We are all stuck somewhat permanently in this cycle, and most of us are constantly being pulled back by our caution, based on solid experience, at moving too quickly toward new features…throwing the baby out with the bathwater, or fixing that which is not broken.
So, the decisions are not all that easy for any of us. Those of us who are not young (and I am not) are probably just trying to reassure others that old dogs are not having too much trouble making the switch with this version…I can assure you that none of us want to invest a lot of time in learning new software if there is not a fairly clear- and quick- benefit.
It might or might not be good timing for you or anyone else. Just sharing our personal experience, not suggesting that you have to feel the same.
but i wish to recall that i disagree with this point of view 
