Preserve the current compact UI (or make the redesign optional)

[rdev32]

I'm concerned about the direction of the latest VS Code UI redesign. I know some people may like the new look, but to me it feels like the interface is becoming more focused on looking modern and touch-friendly than on being an efficient desktop IDE.

What I like about the current UI

One of the things I like most about the current UI is how compact it is. I can have the Explorer, multiple editor groups, and the terminal open at the same time without feeling like the UI is wasting space (see the screenshot).

Everything is laid out in a way that makes it easy to scan and keeps the focus on the code.

My concerns with the redesign

The redesign goes in the opposite direction. It adds more padding, larger gaps between elements, bigger controls, and rounded corners everywhere.

None of these changes improve my workflow, but together they make the interface feel less dense and less efficient. It feels like valuable screen space is being traded for aesthetics.

I also don't like the change to lowercase section titles like explorer and search. It seems like a small detail, but the previous styling gave the UI better hierarchy and was easier to read at a glance.

Why this matters for VSCodium

I switched to VSCodium because I wanted a clean, straightforward editor without all the Microsoft branding, telemetry, and the constant push toward Copilot and AI features that I don't use.

I'd really hate to see VSCodium lose another part of what makes it appealing by following every UI trend from upstream.

If it's at all possible, I'd love for VSCodium to preserve the current interface, or at least offer an option to keep it.

Comparison

Current

Comming up next

What do you guys think?

[daiyam]

I agree with you.

I really considering to make a fork of VSCode due to them mixing their AI stuffs in the editor (outside their extension).
What I want is:

• a clean editor without any AI (VSCodium - FOSS)
• an editor to do AI stuff (VSCodium AI - non-FOSS due to 3rd parties deps)

I might need to tweak this project mission.

[daiyam]

They have an agents window which is very Cursor-like due to their "modernUI". They should rename it "cursorUI"...
It doesn't have any compact UI...

The theming is broken with this "modernUI". While they still don't have custom fonts...

If the agents window doesn't have a compact UI, I'm afraid they will remove the compact UI since they will say that don't have enough resources to maintain both UI...
Then I will be in a conundrum.