VirtualBox GUI unnecessary dynamic and complex.

[Dude]

Please reconsider some of the current VirtualBox GUI aspects and remove dynamic windows, dynamic buttons and "intelligent" one time only displaying of information. It adds unnecessary complexity and does not conform to application and interface standards.

My suggestions: Appropriate settings should be in the VirtualBox application preferences, where the user can customize the options. For instance:

[ ] Show descriptive dialog windows. [ ] Disable keyboard and mouse capturing info [ ] Show dialog if no bootable medium found.

[Michael Thayer]

Does this ticket replace #11473? And is what you are asking for that we remove the various "Don't show this window again" tick boxes and have a central list of "show this, don't show this" instead?

Note that I am not agreeing (or disagreeing) with your idea here, and certainly not saying we will do that, but why not both?

[Dude]

Thanks for the quick response. Here are some examples.

The Hide/Show Description button in the Create Virtual Machine wizard makes the UI more complex. The button also remembers the last option used, making the interface even less predictable. I think it would be better to have only one interface that combines the "beginner" and "expert" mode. The difference between the two is only additional text. The text could also be shown when moving the cursor to the appropriate fields.

Another example is the Select startup-disk dialog, which is only shown once. Again, making the interface unpredictable, for instance when creating instructions.

I'm not asking for removing the "Don't show it again" checkboxes, but I think it would be nice if it changed an application preference, rather than having the setting disappear. Maybe the ticket 11473 could be included.

I question whether or not the VirtualBox GUI really needs the current complexity, or at least allow the configuration of the UI using application preferences to be more predictable. Creating any instructions using the current UI is difficult and requires additional explaining. Some of the UI features are also not documented.