so i just tried it out, somehow they have made the user interface even worse (how is that possible?). in the editor, the toolbar seems even thicker than i remembered because they have chosen to stack some controls instead of stretching across like they did in the past. therefore more screen space is wasted.
the "Advanced Settings" that used to be on the right hand side are now undockable into three panels:
1: Adjustment Mode, Tonal Adjustments, Highlight Control, White Balance Setting, Color Mode
2: Noise Reduction, Chromatic Aberration Correction, Fringe Correction
3: Histogram, Navigation
The windows cannot be snapped in custom order, it is always 1, 2, 3. Therefore I cannot get the histogram to be at the top like most RAW editors. Secondly when everything is docked there are three separate scroll bars and becomes even harder to find things than before (maybe some of you prefer the configurability?). it's totally scroll city. the small tiny font does not help.
The one positive is now the old fidgety colour wheel has been replaced with a colour square that is a lot easier to use and fine tune. in the rumors site they mention that white balance temperature is only available for the quattro cameras which is pretty disappointing. getting the white balance right in the past was quite difficult.
one of the reasons i sold my sigma was because dealing with SPP was such a pain in the ass. doesn't look like i'm coming back for a while. photography is a hobby for me but this just seems like such a waste of time at this point.