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[tjobbins]

MC is a great product, mainly due to its wide offerring in functions. However, where it lacks behind (imo) is the integration into other systems. When we talk about Windows/macOS/Linux, the first thing should be feature parity (when possible) and the second thing should be native integration (GUI usability) into these OS's (though I do have a master licence, I do not use the Linux version, my notes are based on the macOS version). While features in the macOS version are mostly on par with the Windows version, the GUI does not give me a "macOS feeling" (Linux version is even more behind the Windows version with regard to features if I recall correctly and the primary reason why I most probably will build a Windows-based server instead of a Linux-based one).

I am a current MC on Mac user and I agree absolutely that the GUI could do with some work.   I am not a lifelong Mac user - just for the last few years - so I am not one of those who really cares about the "Mac feel".   I don't care, for example, that MC on Mac is basically identical to MC on Windows/Linux and that it doesn't follow Mac design conventions.  But I know many Mac users do care a lot about that, and that might be a stumbling block for uptake on Mac. 

What I do care a lot about is better technical integration on Mac.  I really wish it supported native Mac full screen - so that I don't get a menu bar superimposed over my full screen videos in a multi-monitor setup - and I also wish that I could watch a video full screen on one monitor while also accessing the UI on another, like I can in Windows.    Fixing both of those would make using MC on Mac a lot more pleasant for me.

Then there's a few more minor issues, like how MC's main window is not recognised as a normal window by any Mac apps, so I can't use any window management add-on utilities to snap it to left/right/top/bottom.  I can live with those, though I can imagine they'd annoy some.

It's understandable that there are problems, given the need to maintain a multi-platform architecture with Windows and Linux OS fairly similar in design conventions, but Mac OS rather different.  But it would be nice if further progress could be made over time, and I'm glad MacOS is recognised as an important market.

[RD James]

I still think that the number one thing to focus on right now is making it as quick and painless as possible for users to play the media that they have.
Streaming services are taking over due to convenience. Manually browsing through a media library is tedious. I want to do as little management/browsing with my media library as possible.
 
Being able to quickly search the entire library and instantly play the media I was looking for would be a massive improvement.

What would be really useful to me, is if Play Doctor was updated to act as a universal search field.
This would be a "smart" search field:

• I could type an album name, hit enter and have it play the whole thing.
• Type an artist name and have it queue up their discography - optionally shuffling the albums (not tracks).
• Enter the name of a movie and have it start playing fullscreen in the correct zone.
• Enter the name of a director or actor and list all of their movies.
• Enter a TV series and have it pick up where I left off, queuing up all unplayed episodes.
• Enter the name of a podcast and have it start playing from the most recent episode, optionally working backwards through the list.
• Type the name of a song or genre to generate a Play Doctor list.

It should be as easy as typing one or two words, selecting an item from the results, and having that media automatically play in the correct zone (no matter where search was initiated).

Full post here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,115086.msg795672.html
 
 
After that, it's a revamp of the Zones system.
Zones are a great concept and a very useful feature. The problem is that I have to set up zones for all sorts of things they weren't designed for.
I have many Zones that point to the same output device because there's no other way to have separate DSP settings for different types of media.
 
Zones should point to a location, and there should be some other way of having multiple different DSP rules assigned to that location.
Without knowing how things work behind the scenes, the easiest solution for that would seem to be grouping Zones together so that a group represents a location with a single Playing Now list, and each Sub-Zone represents a set of DSP rules; seamlessly switching between them and ensuring that MC never tries to play back files in two of those Sub-Zones at the same time.
As I add more media types to my library; e.g. 4K video, and now discs which include Atmos tracks, I'm having to add even more zones and it's becoming unmanageable.