Hi, BB GUI has improved over the years but at rather very slow and conservative pace, probably to keep its appearance vintage BB pre-2000. I would suggest all to look at how User Interfaces are done in other complex apps like Photoshop/Photo-Brush and Sony DVD Architect for redesign ideas. Even better, go all the way to look at MS Office latest smart "ribbons".

Some changes could be :
1. Limit the double rows screen ivories to more realistic 10 octaves. (This will release some screen real estate.) Maybe increase to four rows to show each part more separately.
2. Allows the icon & button toolbars to have options for smaller neater / compact sizes and also without titles.
3. Use tabbed interfaces to organize toolbars and sub-menu dialogs. e.g. Style Category selection could be faster with shorter tabbed lists instead of one long vertical listings.
4. Besides spinner for entering values, use horizontal or vertical slider line to set value which also gives us visual cue.
5. Wide displays are becoming the norm, hence gives options put buttons on the left/right instead of top/bottom.
6. Icons color scheme can be more pastel shades instead of the bright basic colours to make it less distracting or kindergarten feel.
7. Translucent option for ivory, toolbars and windows(eg Big Lyrics, Conductor, StyleMaker) would be a great "gimmick" or helpful.
8. Multi-files can be edited and cut-paste between them.

BB is fast on even relatively slow old PC because of its tight programming. However PCs today can easily cope with GUI stuffs and memory requirements.
There are pro & con with each changes that must be weighed, e.g. tabbed interface would required two clicks if a needed button is hidden, hence reducing its accessability.

regards
michael