Compact view

[topbanana]

The spacing between each application is tripple, quadruple line spaced.  Most of the application's window is empty, wasted whitespace.
This spacing makes it much harder to scan down a list of things.  Especially when you realise that when we're reading, we're actually recognising the 'shape' of the word, not reading each letter.  And in a compact list, this is much easier to spot.
This same 'feature' was also introduced to Windows File Explorer, and the massive kick back forced them to, correctly, give us a Compact View.

This would necessitate reducing the icon size, but we're not scanning down looking at the icons, we're trying to read the application's name.  The old version number, new version number looks ok stacked, in a smaller font size, so perhaps you could compact the lines such that they're tight up against these version numbers, with the thin separator line still in place.

This issue is obviously made 10,000x worse by the fact that you removed the categories back in 2022, which was a horrific, horrible move.

Please, at least give us the option to change the line spacing to compact.
Remember, FUNCTION FIRST, then make it look nice.

[topbanana]

I guess i wrote my post in the wrong way...



But i can't seem to edit the post, the edit option is missing in this forum.



Too many user interface designers today are copying this trend in spacing out the user interface far, far too



much... Which just makes it a lot, lot more difficult to follow, to see what you need and to see the state



of the settings/preferences/etc...



I'm not sure where this trend, fashion came from, but it'll hopefully pass sooner rather than later, as



it is really quite ugly.



It is especially problematic, unattractive on smaller monitors, laptop screens, like those who have older 'HD' screens,



which as we know are not the 'Full HD' we'd hope they'd be...  But even with a Full HD, 1080p screen, we often



have to run them with a screen Scale of 125%, or 150%... Which pretty much returns the monitor/screen back to



a similar size to all the crappy 'HD' laptop screens we are lumbered with...



It really does seem like the developers, or to be fair, the managers making these awful decision, just have 4k



monitors, and for them, and their non-technical minds, it looks ok.



But for the rest of us, and for those of us that support computers a lot, that do it for a living, that do this as a



keen hobby, etc. etc. it's just an annoyance, that slows us down, makes using it frustrating, and leads us to look



for alternatives.  Especially when you combine this with the axing of the cached downloads, and the remove of the



categories!



It's as if they've aimed PMPC to the lowest common denominator... created a "My First App Updater"...  Just for



People that have never used software like this before... And they think that the way to make it look simple, or



'clean' (such a horrible word, philosophy), is to just space it out so, so much, and remove all the useful



features, leaving just the minimum viable product!



It kinda does seem like PMPC Home Updater was just 'too good', and perhaps it was stealing business away from their



corporate, pro version... So they knee-capped it... First they removed the categories, which just makes it an



absolute nightmare to use, to consistently, accurately, efficiently, speedily tick the selection of apps you



wish to install...  Then, with this release, they deleted the killer feature, the caching of the downloaded



installers, to a defined locations, that allows the admin to carry around everything already downloaded, and



to save an enormous amount of bandwidth, data, which we have to remember, is not universally 'Unlimited', and



often capped at a disastrously small amount, and for others, simply costs them money for each MB...  And to round



this knee-capping off... They just spaced out user interface, to make it look unattractive, to make it look like



software designed for pre-schoolers, and novice pc users, or for mac users perhaps? ;-)



So.  This new version of PMPC-HU isn't what it used to be.
It could correct its shortcomings...  It could re-add the caching, and the categories...  And it could AT LEAST add the option to change to a compact UI.
This would return it to its former glory, and with the huge added benefit of the greatly expanded list of apps.
Just giving it up and going to a command prompt to type 'winget upgrade --all' just seems the more logical choice...

Fingers crossed!!!