Simply put, please provide an option to disable the contextual ribbon, and enable dockable toolbars and menus in their entirety, just like ArcMap.
I have been trialing Pro for a few weeks for the second time since it has come out. I trialed 1.x, left it, and now 2.0.1. I have gone through several iterations of Arc since the 3.x days. I'm not against change, and 64 bit is the future. However, this round seems too focused on "look and feel", versus efficiency of core workflows.
That said, the contextual menu may have it's place, but not in my or many of my peers' workflows. It is just as much of a pain in Office 2016, and I believe a majority will agree. Ribbons have their place in single display devices with small screens, like laptops and tablets. I believe ESRI developers have lost touch with how big their software actually is, and how much of the [efficient] core work behind all the "slick" maps gets done at a desktop workstation with multiple monitors. Without the big work, you don't get "slick" maps for the pseudo "Arc Users" to play around with on their mobile devices. There's more to "GIS" than turning map layers on an off on a buttery smooth base map service. Don't forget about the power users behind the scenes.
Some running examples, not including the many missing tools:
1) The ribbon actually removes more real estate from my map display than a typical dual-monitor docking arrangement of regularly used menus and toolbars.
2) If I needed a different tool for a less common workflow, the ArcMap method of a single right-click that displayed all potential toolbars, with a check, or not, was magnificently simple and yet robust. In fact, seeing all the tools was an excellent way to encourage self-teaching of new tools and workflows. I can't count how many times I had some data or an idea, and looked at the toolbar list for the best (possibly new) way to get the end result. Now everything is split up and buried.
3) With multiple monitors to dock menus and toolbars, ArcMap power users are able to keep regularly used tools "in their place", and instantly select a tool or operation with one click from muscle memory. The contextual ribbon forced ESRI to split everything up, subdividing it under a limited number of "contexts". As end users, we are now forced to interpret which "context" the developers felt a certain tool or operation fell under, navigate to that tab, and then frequently now guess which dropdown to use under that tab. Once the correct tool or operation is found, we must then further navigate additional contexts within a pane or even panes. Sometimes we even need to navigate multiple contexts for a simple layer property or labeling change. All extremely inefficient, and oftentimes not intuitive.
That is all for now, but I have two unrelated observations to note:
1) This webpage is responding to mouse and keyboard at about 1 character or click per 3 seconds. Everything else on my machine, including other websites is extremely fast. Coincidence?
2) There is no flag or category for ArcGIS Pro. Very suspect, considering the popularity of the subject, its focus at the User Conference, and that this is where tech support refers all complaints.
