Icon:
It save one click (actualy 0.5 ;-). But this has a cost of been able to hit thouse tiny buttons. As well sometimes design mode takes too long time to load - this can allow to save time by navigating to source dirrectly.

Multi-row:
This is easy to use then editing same file.

Summary:
It will be nice to combine thouse suggestions:
I.e. show small icons for files not active, but show huge buttons for currently opened file.
It seems like a little bit bloated - but to save space - instead of file extension (.cs) you can put a C# icon to indicate this is source file tab. This will save place for additional functionality.

is it possible you can make this an option in Options->Environment->Documents or Options->Text Editor->General, and from there allow us to choose Icon, or Multi-Row. I like both, but if I had to make a choice, "Icon Tabs" b/c it's 1 less click. I like multirow because I actual tab (Where it says the document name) takes up less space than in Icon mode. That will allow me to see more open files w/o scrolling.

I think the multirow option is better one. First it is easier to use than hitting tiny buttons. Secondly it can more easily extended with more buttons and possibly options to perform common source control functions ( compare, check-in, check out )

I think multirow looks cleaner. I would go with it.

Shaun Bedingfield
blogsb.blogspot.com
shaunbed@houston.rr.com

I think the multi-row option looks cleaner.
But perhaps having the icons still on the tabs so that you could tell which pages were open for that file without having it be the foreground tab.
I think its important to be able to see that information for non-selected tabs.

I like the idea of allowing users to choose between the two. I also like having configurable buttons in the multirow area for common tasks. For those who dislike the multirow setup simply because it takes up screen space maybe having the mulitrow button area collapse when the mouse isn't over it would be a solution.

Preference for the Multi-row design with integrated navigation bar. Looks good, easy to understand, and no wasted vertical space.

Critque of the Icon tabs is that they seem less intuitive to me, and require a great deal of accuracy to hit the target.

Im not averse to having this be a user-preference, but I think I would always be using the multi-row design.

I think the final screenshot looks great and would work best, except you need to have a close button on every single tab! I know this takes up more space, but I want to be able to close a tab without making it active first. This is one of the most annoying things I find using VS 2003 every day.
The first and second shots, with all those icons in the tab, is just terrible looking. Way too much clutter. It's not clear what the buttons do or mean, if they are even buttons.

I definitely like multi-row, but I think I'm a little biased towards that design ;)

Aaron

Our Program Manager Intern, Jon, has a set of file tab prototypes we're considering for Orcas. He'd love...

I would rate the icon tabs a 9 out of 10. I like that they are concise and save screen space. The popup hint is helpful for beginners to get to know the meanings of the icons. Experienced users will recognize the icons. I do not agree with the others who commented that the click target is too small. I think there is plenty of room on the tab for a reasonable click target.

I would rate the multi line tabs a 6 out of 10. I think this is kind of a waste of screen space, both vertically and horizontally (taking space away from the 2 drop downs in your example). I also think it will not transition well between different views that don't have the dropdowns, e.g., between code and design view. It will be strange that in this case the bar will get wider and narrower depending on the selected view.

Usability of both is pretty equal in my view. Same for aesthetics (except for the issue noted above). Overall I prefer the icon tab view, mainly because it doesn't consume too much screen real estate, which is still important in an IDE.

Jonathan, a PM intern on my team VSCore, is requesting feedback on his Visual Studio File Tabs Design. ...

Orcasのファイルタブどうさせてもらいましょう。

元ネタは青柳さんトコ
VSIDE のファイルのタブってどんなのがいい？ in Orcashttp://www.divakk.co.jp/blog/aoyagi/archive/2005/09/02/7006.aspx...

Icons - 7/9
a) how well it would suit your needs (where does it come up short?)
It's great, but the icon's do need to be something meaningful. The current icons do not convay its its a Design File or Code File open.
b) perceived ease of use
Would like it on my Desktop with a Mouse. But on my high resolution Laptop with the touchpad, its going to be tricky to click the right icon. Demo's with laptops will start getting more funny.

Hover Menus are a VERY good idea. As someone mentioned it takes a lot of time while painting Forms in design view. And its annoying to first switch tab - lag and then switch. With Hove menus, I could switch to code view right away!
c) aesthetic appeal
Looks good, need the Close button on the tab - please. Now if only if the icons could be meaningfull..

Multi Layer Tabs - 5/9
a) how well it would suit your needs (where does it come up short?)
Screen space please! Most developers I have seen work on 1024x768 resolution. Not thats one line less of code to be seen.
b) perceived ease of use
Looks confusing to me, without clicking on the Tab, I can't find if its code view or design view.
c) aesthetic appeal
Looks neat although!

I don't like the multi-row tabs (with design/code on a different row) since it takes screen real estate away from the code window.

I like the first picture the most, with small buttons for code/view on them. The asterisk (dirty flag) could be removed to make space by using a different background color for the tab. The color could be the same as the changed lines in the code window (or something more pleasing). At a glance you could tell if there were unsaved changes since the tab would be a different color.

It would be nice if there were more options around for tabs -- like being able to double-click them to close. I'd suggest that double-clicking a tab would close both views at the same time.

There should also be more automation API's exposed around the tabs to allow further customization by add-in's.

Multi-row A:

a) how well it would suit your needs: 10
b) perceived ease of use: 10
c) aesthetic appeal: 10

This is the one I find would make things better than they are now. You have to make the second row very flexible, even extensible as you could have multiple editors for the same kind of file and multiple codebehind files. I am guessing Orcas will have even more of this than Whidbey. Just think of it as a toolstrip for the file window.

No other option seems to be much better to me than what is already in whidbey, so I won't comment on others.

Regarding the close icon on every tab. It is not important to me. If you want to make it easier than today, just place the close menu item first in the context menu for the tabs.

Also, I don't really need too much custimization options for this. Just one good option, and of course, extensibility.

Just for fun, look at these feedback requests on the Delphi IDE:

http://blogs.borland.com/abauer/archive/2005/04/29/4091.aspx

http://blogs.borland.com/abauer/archive/2005/05/25/4427.aspx

http://blogs.borland.com/abauer/archive/2005/05/27/4485.aspx

Regarding the dirty state icon, I think the asterisc is not bad. Maybe a scribble or a pencil icon would make it. And yes, I think keeping things clean is a good measure.

... I agree, a different colour for tabs with pending changes should be considered also. Text color or background color?