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I like the style, but here unlike most times when designing something were we need white space and balance, we actually need the most possible density while remaining clear, structured and achieving good hierarchy.

I also have to investigate, for projected light, as is a screen, what actually is the most easy to read, black on white or white on black, it also might have an impact on battery life, it should be tested,

Here's some snippets and links:

"People with astigmatism (aproximately 50% of the population) find it harder to read white text on black than black text on white. Part of this has to do with light levels: with a bright display (white background) the iris closes a bit more, decreasing the effect of the "deformed" lens; with a dark display (black background) the iris opens to receive more light and the deformation of the lens creates a much fuzzier focus at the eye."

"When reversing colour out, eg white text on black, make sure you increase the leading, tracking and decrease your font-weight. This applies to all widths of Measure. White text on a black background is a higher contrast to the opposite, so the letterforms need to be wider apart, lighter in weight and have more space between the lines."

"...the most readable color combination is black text on white background; overall, there is a stronger preference for any combination containing black. The two least readable combinations were red on green and fuchsia on blue. White on blue and red on yellow were ranked fairly high, while green on yellow and white on fuchsia were ranked fairly low. All others fell somewhere between these extremes.

Also, in every color combination surveyed, the darker text on a lighter background was rated more readable than its inverse (e.g. blue text on white background ranked higher then white text on blue background)."

"In any event, the white on blue contrast provides especially good contrast in low brightness environments. And, as William told me, this was very useful when refresh rates were slower (i.e., less than 60 Hz). The white on blue contrast in such situations reduced perceived flicker."

"I'm not (particularly) disabled in my sight (other than being 51 years of age), and yet when I get to a site I need to, or strongly want to, read that is white on black — I use CTRL A (the PC keycode for highlight all) to turn the text into dark blue on white (my user settings). That allows me to read the text.
{shrug} It works for me. I wish the 'trend' of light text on dark backgrounds would hurry up and pass by though."



http://www.visualexpert.com/FAQ/Part6/cfaqPart6.html

http://www.joedolson.com/articles/2006/08/on-the-readability-of-inverted-color-schemes/

http://www.writer2001.com/colwebcontrast.htm

In regard to the vertical tabs, it's an easy solution for the problem, not sure if the best one, but it works well. Never scrolling I would say, as it decreases predictability. And for the user that is paramount - predictability and coherence. That's why dynamic menus are a no-no (there was a reason they existed in, and were cut out of office).

As for customization I see it working in either of 2 ways (or both). The first would be the easiest way possible, while using ML the user can use a shortcut to set the selected function to his "favorites" menu, and on a second time edit that menu to change options, position of features, etc. the classic menu would be unchangeable. The second option would be for the more advanced user, where he could edit a config file and go in depth with every function and change every point in the menu, from the number of tabs, tab names, every function and sub-menu. They could also be probably saved as profiles.
This would cater for both the average user wanting a quick cleanup, and building it slowly. As well as for the advanced user that want a really tight menu, more geared up for production. Studio shot, filmmaking, etc. users could even share their configs (auto export menu function with screenshots would be a plus here).

My biggest problem with this option is that it would create a large amount of tabs, hiding a fair number from view.

Learning to use a different menu system is an irrelevant issue when you are trying to use a robust and complex tool like ML. The biggest value for the user would be in organization, clarity and workflow, never in similarity to "the other menu".

[PS:]

It's really nice to see this topic being brought up again. Also I had never seen that thread about my screens A1ex  .

With all the development ML has been through, and only broadening it's possible scope with all the possibilities still ahead (ahem DIGIC Registers), this effort really should be about first and foremost making the UI flexible, robust and easily expandable, and only second about color, contrast, gradients and icons.

I made my first versions bases on an idea of making the functions more visible, which did result in some extra clutter. Can't really say it was a very involved effort or that there was much feedback . Although it did please me to see my integrated help suggestion making it in and improved upon.

I believe the best way to go would be to create a core UI development group with a few people. This way we can work faster, more focused, and without posting every little detail (but keep info flowing and gathering feedback from the community).
With this setup the best way would be to work with wireframes of the UI, exploring well the menu mechanics and flexibility of the system. This should include the menus, different camera res, even help system (moving away from the IMG based one).
After this the focus could then be on color, technical issues with fonts, themes (low/high contrast at least) and polishing.

Let me know what you think of this, I will contribute to the effort no matter what the outcome of the development may be - Now let me just find and dust of those old files...

Furthermore I have to thank all the ML developers, testers and contributors for the amazing tool we now have.
Although I really have used it little in the past 8 months (proud father of a very energetic 4 month old girl) I'm eager to see it developing further and improving in every step of the way. As much as I am to exploring it further and producing some amazing images with it.

PS: I really see no issue with the menu being different from the standard Canon menus, for me it's all about function and we don't need any kind of artificial limitation in trying to look similar or even having that as a start point.
I would also make the case that the menu changes a bit in every camera ML supports, particularly the older ones (can we get a few screens from each as reference!).
Furthermore, I don't really think that the fact of it being different distracts in any way, you just know you are in ML (where the good stuff happens).