While I appreciate the feedback, and I am sorry you "hate" the interface... I fail to see how that qualifies me as a "moron", or rather my work as "moronic". Much thought has gone into the "how", the "why" and the "when". There are valid reasons for the way things are done, and being anything less than a full 1.0 release - there is a very high probability that several interface elements are not complete, or even missing altogether (I say that as if I'm suggesting that there might be, when in fact I know that to be the case... I designed it). Without being complete, some elements don't quite make sense, I agree (that is, unless you know what the missing elements are and how they function - which I wouldn't expect you to). Inspiration for the UI comes from many sources, most of which are successful, proven, 2D/3D applications currently on the market, while others are from the OS' D|S supports. Much of the focus thus far has been on content support and stability... interface will get more attention as the previous becomes less of a concern.

I'm not quite sure I understand your meaning of "balls". If you're referring to the controls in the view tab, they are meant for novice users, those new to 3D. The images with the camera and arrows are to help them understand how that control manipulates what they see... in a way that they could make the connection between a real camera in their hands. They are bigger so that they are easy to see... again, for someone that may not quite have a grasp of 3D yet. They are not intended for someone who is a bit more comfortable in 3D, or concerned with screen real estate.

If, however, you are referring to the red, green and blue rings that are displayed at the bone center point when a bone is selected... They are a fair ways away from finished, as are the rest of the 3D manipulators. They are very basic right now, emphasis on the word "very". Ever seen the 3D manipulators in MAX? If you have, you have some insight on where these are headed, plus a few things. If in fact, these controls are what you're referring to when you comment on alignment... the colored rings are oriented to local space of the bone: X = red, Y = green, Z = blue, not world space, hence the angle.

As to the "could have implemented both"... we did. The Parameters tab contains... ...parameters of the selection. To boot, the sliders update as the corresponding manipulators are used in the 3D view, real time. Want to type in a specific value? Right-click the slider, type in a new value and hit Enter, viola. Want to nudge the value a little? Use the nudge arrows on either side of the slider. Want to adjust how the slider works? If it has limits and what they are if it does? How much a 'nudge' is? What the label of the parameter is? Double-click the name of the slider... a parameter settings dialog will pop-up. Notice anything? Notice the blank area of the dialog? Suppose that means something is missing right now? I'll give you a hint... yes. That would be because we are still working on it. ;)

If you're wondering why you don't see parameters for the default "camera". Thats because its not a "camera", its a view. Cameras are objects in the scene that are animatable, views are not. Views are simply that, views.. they let you view the scene. They have no parameters/properties that can be animated... whereas cameras do. The drop down menu at the top left of each viewport has 7 standard views, regardless of any actual cameras you add: Perspective, Front, Left, Right, Back, Top and Bottom. All views except Perspective, specifically, are orthogonal.

-Rob