Progress update
*waves*
I’m still evaluating SL-2.0.2 (or what – aside from some sneaky secretsy things – will be SL-2.1), but still can’t convince myself that the benefits of (finally) doing another release outweigh the downside of how unstable it is *sighs*. Which presents me with a problem since all my patches (and RLVa) have moved on with the 2.1 codebase so just doing another 2.0 release would take a non-trivial amount of time.
The “perceived inventory loss” issue is by far the most significant one, but also – to a lesser extent – that the multi-wearable and multi-attachment features both rely on 1.40 which won’t make the main grid for another two weeks (the former needs it to retain ordering information across relogs and the latter just won’t work without 1.40). A lot of touch-ups are still needed as well (I hope they can get to that with less than a month to go before it has to be released 
) resulting in some things not working, half-working, or working but crash-prone.
I’ll keep following new LL code drops and cross my fingers that the next one will fix the worst issues…
—
As an aside: every now and then I’ll poke someone I know to ask what little things they didn’t/don’t like about 2.0 or what feature(s) they’re missing from 1.23 but surprisingly very few ever seem to really have usuable feedback so since I can’t release I’ll open the door for suggestions on what to do while I/we wait for a stable 2.1 to release 
.
Just to be honest: if it’s something that irks me too then it has a much higher chance of getting considered; if it’s something I’ve never even used then it has a very low chance of getting considered. That’s not fair at all, I know :p. Keep in mind that the time to actually write a patch is almost negliable compared to the time it’ll take to maintain and retest with every new viewer iteration though.
I was thinking your question of what it is about 2.0 that I don’t like…
The only thing that I really find distressing about 2.0 is the sidebar. I hated them when web browsers did them, and I hate them in 2.0. It’s just not enough space for many of the panels they try to cram into it. And it only lets you look at one thing at a time, which for much of that information is just completely unacceptable. I’m not opposed to having it in the viewer, I just want it optional, like say, Firefox and it’s sidebar.
And by optional, I mean, everything in the sidebar can also be viewed as separate windows… not a floating window that contains what’s in the sidebar, but actual separate windows for each type of thing it encapsulates. I want multiple profile windows open at once, for instance.
Still, as irritating as I find the sidebar, I’d use 2.0 for Shared Media in spite of it, if it weren’t for the the features from third party viewers that I’ve come to rely on, the biggest being “always rez in land group,” followed up by lesser things like double-click-to-top and client side radar (that can feed in world objects). And less so, ground-sit anywhere, no tp-progress screens (though really I’d like to have this only be for in-sim tps) and shadows.
Without “always rez in the land group” as an option, I’m not gonna be using a viewer for real work. That one is non-negotiable. The other stuff is mostly about helping the viewer get out of your way and fade into the background.
Incidentally, I posted a somewhat expanded version to my blog, along with your followup:
http://winterseale.com/2010/06/whats-wrong-with-secondlife-viewer-2-0/
Using Catznip some more now, if you want an easy thing that’d make me happier…
Make it so that I can tell system folders not to sort first again. <.< I really hate them, they're an awful way to organize a large inventory.
My main peeves about the viewer 2.X, and these are deal breakers for me, is the absence of keyboard shortcuts.
In 1.XX viewers, Ctrl+T brings up the IM window. Ctrl+T minimizes or Ctrl+W closes the IM window. This is very useful behavior when dealing with half a dozen IM windows; needing to use the mouse to navigate IM is horrible in comparison.
Local chat history does not have a chat input bar. Why this has been removed I cannot even begin to guess. Having all chat in one nice floatable window with the option to detach individual windows is something I’ve come to rely on.
Ctrl-shift-F brings up the friends tab but typing the name of the avatar you wish to message does not work as it does in 1.XX viewers. Again, back to the >swears< mouse.
A mouse is a useful tool but it's far from an efficient one when it comes to navigating a UI. LL lost a lot of usability I've come to rely on by not carrying over well used and useful keyboard navigation from 1.XX. For me, it's made 2.XX viewers unusable.