[iamcreasy]

I know what you meant, but the Blender UI is still at odds compared to most software out there.

Here is an example. One of their UI tenet is no overlapping windows. You change focus between windows by moving your mouse over them - no clicking involved. So, if you press C when 3d viewport is on focus it triggers the circle select tool, but pressing C when the outliner is on focus creates a new collection. But this behavior is not consistent. Sometimes some keys have global binding. For example, Shift Space always runs the animation no matter which window is in focus. And there is no way to know if a key binding needs a focus on a particular window. I find this behavior very odd.

Most software have either global key binding, or you explicitly change focus between windows(modes) by click on another (usually overlapping) window.

[pfranz]

I haven't really used Blender (but know Maya, Houdini, Nuke very well). I think "pro" software (a wiggly term) tends to require a non-standard UI (however, I do miss when Photoshop used the base OS' UI). Pro tools end up being a bit of their own window management and filesystem that overlaps with the OS. Their decisions are part of the ergonomics of being productive in the app.

I remember when macOS started adding smart folders and other database features to Finder. I was hoping the base OS could do photo management and Photos/Aperture could just do the retouching. The same tooling could replace iTunes. After all, a filesystem is just a very opinionated database, right? In practice I'm not sure how well it would have played out.

[joubert]

Microsoft also worked on WinFS as a new file system based on relational database principles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinFS

[pfranz]

Yeah, it was sad to see all the Longhorn tech get scaled back or dropped.