I’ll give it a go with v8 but in v7 there was never a mechanism to properly enter the username and password to access the NextCloud server.
The avatars that seem to have appeared by the email accounts in the folder list. If they were in v7 then they were a lot more subtle and inoffensive which makes me think they weren’t. They should be something that are off by default and can be enabled by a user if they want. There doesn’t seem to be a way to turn them off so it looks like I am going to have to use a 1x1px transparent png file.
All my accounts are IMAP base and all of my custom folders appear under “More”. All the “More” folder represents is one extra level of indentation that serves no purpose.
The amount of indentation on the folder hierarchy seems to have been reduced in v8 from v7 and it makes it significantly more difficult to tell at a glance what level folders are at.
The orange “+ New” button on the main window is now just randomly floating in space whereas it used to be snug up against the left side. It is a waste of pixels and looks plain ugly (in my opinion).
Putting the red error triangle and the error count into the middle of the toolbar probably goes against any UI style guide that has ever been written.
When I open an email, there is a huge amount of whitespace to the left of the “Reply”, “Reply All”, “Forward” buttons.
If I try to click on a link in an email the window flashes several times before letting me click on the link.
I get that v8 is still in beta and some of these may be bugs that haven’t been ironed out but things like that which work properly shouldn’t have been touched.
Maybe there was/is a difference between Mac/Windows. Windows offers input fields.
(1) Windows v7 already had avatars. Something I do not really need, too, but if you search for “Avatar” in settings, you will find a switch (v8) to turn them off.
(2) I have a mix but IMAP accounts show up as expected → Mac bug?
(3) You’re right: indentation seems to be reduced. Doesn’t bother me but there is no setting for “indentation” for lists but line heights. → Improvement suggestion
(4) Uups! – Really? This would drive me nuts. Windows V8 behaves like V7: it sticks upper left side. → Mac bug?
(5) ui style guide – good point. I could extend this list: Windows dialogs have no recognizable rule (for me) where buttons are placed. But I have to be honest: Windows users are very willing to suffer on ui “experiments”
(6)+(7) seems to be another “Mac special”.
I have to admit that you have valid points to be disappointed of V8. The reason, why I couldn’t follow you seems to be the simple fact that the Windows release apparently is better revised regarding to this.
Are you using the latest beta? As far as I remember some annotations of @Gary some of your enumerated effects may be fixed.
There is some confusion with the use of the term “avatars” in version 8. There are now both contact avatars, and account avatars. Account avatars cannot be disabled, but using a transparent, or single pixel image as @Andy_Pont described, is a solution. These account avatars also only appear in lists like All Inbox. If you don’t use the Favorite Folders you will probably never notice them.
Part of the hierarchy in the macOS version look like:
The “More” folder serves no practical purpose as I can see. The folder “Discussion Forums” really ought to be at the same level as Drafts, Archive, etc.
Here is how things render on macOS v10.15.5 with the latest v8 beta on a 5K iMac:
The More folder is for folders you have chosen to Hide. Just click on the folders and choose Show, and they will be displayed again where they should be.
Sadly the use of a transparent image isn’t a great one. Rather than the name of the account sliding to the left it has stayed put and there is now an empty space the size of the original account avatar.
You mean in the folder list. Maybe create a little folder icon the same as the IMAP folders,or something that has some account connotation. At least it will look complete.
ui style guide – good point. I could extend this list: Windows dialogs have no recognizable rule (for me) where buttons are placed. But I have to be honest: Windows users are very willing to suffer on ui “experiments”
This explains, why I haven’t more (I switched language to assure this…)