[Dalewyn]

>Needing to pay attention to the contents of the screen? What an unrealistic burden.

I know far too many people (read: common users) who quickly lose track of what's going on if their program keeps changing things. Hell, I find most people still can't keep track of tabs in a web browser (because each tab overwrites most of the window), let alone your stuff.

>feel free to offer your version of the same that would cleanly separate secondary options and sub-options so not to overwhelm the user with a laundry list of settings.

A singular, global button or toggle somewhere that permanently keeps the UI in either Simple or Advanced modes? Almost nobody needs to flick between the two back and forth. Common users only care for what will get their work done, power users always want (and can deal with) all the details.

>The point of all that "hell" is the layering and progressive refinement of the UI.

What you call "layering and progressive refinement" I call an unnecessary click and movement of UI elements that don't have to exist. The former is a waste of time, and the latter is a waste of screen real estate.

[martyvis]

Very frustrating for older people when web sites become adventure games with hidden doors and changing maps