Well, after much research and experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that I just can't push the tabbed window mechanism any further. Pierogi has simply grown beyond the limits possible for displaying a set of tab names at the top of the screen; I just need more tabs than the system can deal with.

So, after more research and experimentation, I've replaced the tabbed window mechanism with a system of stacked panels topped by a combo box. While physically somewhat similar to the previous approach, it has the advantage of supporting a practically unlimited set of control panels. The disadvantage is that you can no longer get to any panel by pressing a single button. We'll have to see if the tradeoff is worth it.

In this new system, it is quite easy to add or remove panels as you see fit. I've added a new menu option called "Manage Panels" that allows you to do just that.

An update with the new GUI is now making its way up to the extras-devel repository. Also in this update:

- An entirely new "Air Conditioner" panel. This panel contains a selection of buttons specifically tailored for A/C control. The existing A/C keysets in Pierogi have been modified to use these buttons, so there is no longer any need to try and figure out what "3" or "yellow" means when attempting to control your A/C.

- A new "Select Keyset by Device" window: I've finally removed the confusing "filter by device" option from the existing list of keysets, and created a window to show all of the devices currently considered to be supported by Pierogi. Selecting a device from this list will activate the keyset associated with that device.

- Following advice in another thread, I've set up Pierogi to use a 50% duty cycle for all IR protocols. This might improve the range in some situations; it might also reduce the range. We'll have to see if it helps more than it hurts.

- Many new keysets: added some Foxtel set-top boxes, a Logitech Squeezebox, several Sony CD players, and an improved Western Digital media player. A first pass has been made at keysets for AOC, Arcam, Dell, Dick Smith Electronics, Dynex, Harman Kardon, Kathrein, Starsat, and Viewsat.

- Finally, I'm using a more rational numbering scheme; rather than changing a major number at the end of a development cycle (just before pushing Pierogi up to extras-testing), I'm changing the number at the start; so this "version" of Pierogi will have the same number when it finally gets promoted as it does now. So, this is now version 1.1, "For a Few Pierogies More".

Please note, with this many code changes, new bugs are nearly unavoidable! As with anything in extras-devel, please be careful when using this app.

Here's a look at the new interface: