Re: [Gretl-users] Menu re-structuring

I tried the new snapshot and like it much better than the old one. Most of you guys are alot more experienced and knowledgeable than me but still I would like to tell my humble opinion on several things: 1- First of all, I know everything will look a little better when those few items move away to the preferences menu later. (such as the seed generator and missing value code) 2- Don't you think it would be a little better if "new data" was the first item and "clear data" is down next to "exit"? 3- The idea of having the same item in multiple menus is questionable. (set missing value code in both sample and variable menus) 4- There is a menu called "variable" but going into the data menu there are several items with the sub menu "all variables - selected variables". One cannot help but think there must be a better way of doing this but I am not sure know how. 5- I showed the new layout to my wife who is using eviews constantly for her dissertation. Her opinion is interesting: She thinks gretl somehow looks simple compared to other programs. I have been getting this response from other people (professors, friends) as well. I open eviews and scroll through the menus and do the same thing with gretl and cannot really say that gretl looks very simple but I guess there is something about it that gives that first impression to other people. This is why IMHO the user interface (not just menus) is an important issue. Gretl should not look simpler or less powerful than what it really is. There are a few things that can be done IMHO: 1- A splash screen might be nice. I am pretty good with graphical design, I can come up with something nice if you want this and tell me a general framework to start with (size theme etc). 2- The program opens as a small window. While this should be perfectly OK with most people, maybe it gives the wrong impression with other (maybe prejudiced) people. What is more, the program doesn't remeber the window size. If I maximize it, it opens small again the next time. Of course having a big window, with the built in icon view would also improve the looks but this is once you decide the best way to implement it. 3-Dummy files. This is a must for the windows version where most users are familiar mostly with SAS, eviews etc. There must be 5 or 6 100mb dummy files so that the program can barely fit into a single CD. This is of course a joke but I really think that X-12 and Tramo should be included in the standard distribution. I guess I am one of those people who want everything available and hate downloading things seperately. 4-Finally, who says the program has to load up this fast? Allin, can you put some extra disk activity for about 6-7 seconds and put up a fancy message like "please wait while gretl kernel configures the internal function database" :) Have a nice day... Talha -- A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. - Herm Allbright (1876-1944) --