Bear in mind that, though we listen to just about everything everyone says, _we_ have to solve the problem, and the problem is complex. We have users who use touch screens to control MC, but others use a mouse or a keyboard or a remote control. Everyone wants it to be simple enough for their family.
We think what we have works pretty well now for most people, and that may be as close as we get.
I certainly understand that, and I'd agree. I think you are
very close to "just right". Personally, I don't ever use Playing Now in Theater View mode, and what we have works fairly well as-is. I do think there is some navigational clumsiness, and a certain lack of usable real estate on the top roller, which could
possibly be cleared up (without adding complexity to either "roller" bar) by this:
Currently:
0. Arrow over to left side of screen (if in Thumbnail mode), this is variable and not needed in Lineup or List mode so not counted.
1. Press Left Arrow takes you to Top Roller
2. Left Arrow again takes you back one "tier" in the Breadcrumbs.
3. Down once takes you to the Breadcrubs Roller.
4. Down again takes you back to the File/Categories list.
Proposed:
0. Arrow over to left side of screen (if in Thumbnail mode).
1. Press Left Arrow takes you to Breadcrumbs roller.
2. Left Arrow again takes you back one "tier" in the Breadcrumbs.
3. Down arrow once takes you back to the File/Categories list.
Plus, this way you get these added bonuses:
1) ability to re-purpose the button in the top roller used for the back button for the stuff discussed above, allowing a "sticky" Play All button.
2) The ability to do this instead: In step 2 of the "proposed steps" above, you could hit Right-Arrow instead of Left-Arrow and have it quickly drill down through the View as if you are manually going to the Category list below and choosing "All".
I hardly ever go to Playing Now in Theater View (I generally use Display View if anything at all). However, this could certainly be one of the "top" choices in the proposed new "Controls" button in the Top Roller, which would certainly make it a bit less buried and easier/faster to get to.
Obviously, I could be wrong and this could be just as confusing to a different set of people. Maybe it won't work. However, I think it might be worth thinking about, trying out, or discussing. What I don't see is how any of these changes wouldn't work with all input types equally. Keep in mind, the breadcrumbs would always be visible, so you could click on them directly with mouse/touchscreen input devices (just like the Windows Explorer breadcrumbs in Windows 7), and you could certainly put "back" under the "sticky menu" as well, for those odd mouse users who just need to click on a back button instead of the breadcrumbs.