It looks the guys over at the GIMP have finally started thinking about redesigning that awful GUI on GIMP. Now, don't get me wrong, I do like the GIMP, in fact I used to use it a lot before I got my Mac laptop and returned to Photoshop; but that GUI was always incredibly annoying.

I noticed today (via Slashdot) that the GUI redesign team has a blog where they're posting the proposed ideas for a GUI redesign. Some of the ideas, quite frankly, suck. Other ideas are truly brilliant and, if implemented correctly, could really put GIMP ahead of its competition (at least in usability).

My favorite idea so far has been to replace all of the nasty GTK windows with iPhoto-esque semi-transparent inspector windows that can be free floating or docked to any side of the screen (see full post). This would really be a leap forward in the photo editing GUI and is one of the major problems I still see in Photoshop, I want to see more of my image more of the time. I know that you can now hide the pallets in Photoshop CS3, which I do, but I think it would be fantastic if they where semi-transparent.

Three other ideas that I really liked where: quicksilver style functionality (though the guy's implementation sucks), cleaning up the tragedy that is the layer pallet and filters as chains. If GIMP could clean up its act with masking, layering and filters I think it could give Photoshop a run for its money.

My suggestion for filters would be something along the lines of Quartz Composer but simpler, I think an interface like that if implemented properly would be completely amazing for image editing.