MORDY MY TOP 40 ILLUSTRATOR CS 4 QUESTIONS:

Question

MY TOP 40 ILLUSTRATOR CS 4 QUESTIONS:
1) Do print presets retain number of copies now?
2) Also, do sublayers behave normally with respect to locking/hiding?
3) Do swatches stay in list few now?
4) Can we set a default tool to be selected at startup?
5) Is there an auto-save feature
6) Has the link info palette been updated?
7) Can guides be different colors on different layers?
8) Can we change the colors of layers yet?
9) Is overprint preview sticky when toggling back and fourth to artwork view?
10) Can we add a swatch from a library by searching in the find field and hitting enter?
11) When open previously saved documents, does this window zoom to full screen or slightly off-center as before?
12) Can we outline all text without having to first select all text?
13) Does the scroll work for palettes, dialog boxes now?
14) Can we make keyboard increments larger than 18"
15) Can we create shortcuts for palette items?
16) Can we customize where rulers appear on screen, like bottom right?
17) Is there a select whole objects function yet?
18) Can we delete links within the links palette yet?
19) Is there a way to un-embed an already embedded image without relinking?
20) Can we tile open documents now, vertically or horizontally?
21) Can we turn off white overprinting?
22) Are there more right-click options?
23) Are there more objects to select by under Object>Select?
24) Does Find Font no longer change to the type tool automatically?
25) Is there any embed button in the links palette?
26) Is there an "Ignore All" button when asked for missing images?
27) Can swatches be more than 1 spot color?
28) Can center points be disabled by default?
29) Are there more system swatches (black/white/cmyk/rgb)?
30) Has the place command been changed to "Import/Command + I"?
32) Has Export been changed to Command + E?
33) Has Import & Export been placed next to each other in the file menu?
34) Has hide been changed to Command + H?
35) Is there a history palette?
36) Is the control palette customizable?
37) Can we rotate the page view?
38) Can we make larger artboards?
39) Do we have user-defined units of measure?
40) Can we select all unused layers?

Answer 1

Boy, I gotta tell ya, Mordy, that is some seriously strained logic.
To me, it's just the reality. A while back, I made the choice to use Illustrator. I don't use any other vector drawing program. Overall, for the type of work that I do, workflow is more important to me than anything else. If one could look at an app as an island, then yes, I might consider other apps, but that just isn't the case. This was also one of the driving forces behind my adoption of InDesign. Sure, on a feature-by-feature comparison, InDesign and Quark may still compete. But that competition is moot in my opinion, because I don't care nearly as much about individual features as I do about the overall workflow.
Back to Illustrator, from the "big picture" there are too many things that Illustrator can do that none of its competitors can do. Sure, break everything down to one feature here and one feature there, and you have the ability to say the Corel possess one thing here, FreeHand something here, Canvas yet another, etc. But again, at the end of the day, Illustrator has the toolset that affects my workflow. For example, being able to export a validated PDF/X-1a file is more important to me than an Eraser tool that distorts open paths. Being able to bring artwork reliably into Flash is more important to me than a ruler that can be repositioned to the bottom right of a page.
James, it's obvious from the discussions that we have had other years, that you and I do very different types of work. Sure, there's overlap -- but I don't do the kinds of technical drawing that you do, and while a project will come up here or there where I need to worry about how a plotter will interpret vector paths, that isn't the norm. So maybe my logic and your logic are on two trains, on two different tracks, going in two different directions.
To put it in perspective, the issue of not being able to slice paths correctly is somewhat of a nuisance to me. I totally get why such a feature would be important, though. But that issue is one I have to deal with from time to time. Bleed support is something that has been a huge pain over the years, considering how often I define art in Illustrator which I then place into InDesign. I have to slice paths 1 or 2 times a month. I have to place Illustrator art into InDesign several times a day.
At the end of the day, all I'm trying to say is, I know what tool I will be using each day. It will be Illustrator. That's my own decision. If AI has a shortcoming, I have to find a way to deal with it. That's the sad reality of it. I shell out enough cash to buy the Suite because overall, it is a total design solution. No other design company offers the tools that Adobe does in one package. Sure, I could decide to fill my hard drive with tons of other apps, but that's a decision I choose not to make. My work also must be compatible with others, and so using Adobe products, which are considered the standard in the industry, is par for the course. As is the support for accepted standards WITHIN Adobe products (CSS, PDF/X, etc.).
On my computer, I have 3 folders of apps. Apple apps, which are basically the iLife ones and my new fave, Keynote. Microsoft ones--Office of course. And Adobe apps--Master Collection. That's my choice (we all have that right). You can accuse me of being a lemming if you want. I've been called worse. But at the end of the day, for the most part, I am pretty happy with the toolset I've chosen to use.
:) Mordy