> Everything you say is true and objective, except perhaps 
> "complication" and "poor attempt". Why doesn't everyone just 
> mouse + keyboard + search around using separate 
> general-purpose browser windows for all tasks? Why do people 
> like hierarchy browsers for some purposes? Or senders and 
> receivers? Or chasing variations of these? Or the refactoring browser?
> 
> If I consider an open browser, or collection of browsers, as 
> a working context for the task I am focused on this moment (a 
> reasonable approach to usability); then, if I consider
>  - what I want to accomplish in that task,
>  - what things I want to see and do,
>  - what other things I have to see and do (including 
> selection clicks, menu actions, moving between windows, 
> number of repeated panels with similar or identical lists of 
> categories, classes, protocols, methods, action buttons...), 
> I see several scenarios where the general purpose tool of 
> multiple browsers can be improved.
> 
> All from a newbies perspective ... but sometimes both newbies 
> and ThoseInTheKnow bring useful old as well as fresh views of things.
> 
> Thanks - Sophie 
> 
Hi sophie, did you see Dolphin Smalltalk? It has what they call the *idea
space* which group all the ST tools in one system window. It sound nice at
first, at least to me was attractive but I quickly gravitate again on having
my N system browsers and never used the idea space again.

I think that for experienced users there is information on the way they
accommodate the windows in the screen area. Sometimes you make a little
portion of the transcript to be seen very low under N other windows just to
monitor if something has moved without loosing much really useful area. N
details like that can be observed in users.

It's a little like trying to find a way to organize the way we use the
objects on the desk (the phisical one). I'm more and more minimalistic on
that subject.

Cheers,

Sebastian