Add ability to toggle between the new and the old user interface

[anurag-dhamala]

What would you like to be added:
I would like a toggle button on the navbar to switch between the old user interface and the new one, if possible

Why is this needed:
Most of us are accustomed to using the old user interface, which was more minimal and easier to use. However, many of us also like the new user interface, which is similar to a code editor. A simple toggle button or an option in the settings to switch between the desired UIs would be nice.

Environment you are Lens application on:

• Kubernetes distribution: [EKS, AKS, GKE, Rancher, ...]
• Desktop OS: MacOs 15.1.1

[TheUnableDeveloper]

Hello,
I'd like to add that with the new interface is harder to work on multiple clusters/connections (something that I do daily) because I have to close/open many tabs and they are all together, while with the older UX I had all the connections separated with their tabs

I really need the older interface because I'm really slowing down now

Thanks

[panuhorsmalahti]

Hi, I don't think we will add such a toggle (it's not technically feasible), but we will improve the UX in the near future to support a workflow more similar to the older Lens version. The main idea is to "drill down" to a specific cluster.

[alex-kovalchuk]

You are killing the product. We need to find a fork.

[esatterwhite]

@panuhorsmalahti

Hi, I don't think we will add such a toggle (it's not technically feasible), but we will improve the UX in the near future to support a workflow more similar to the older Lens version. The main idea is to "drill down" to a specific cluster.

The hot bar + having multiple bars to switch to was a great feature.
I have north of 20 different environment with long and very similar names to manage. having them all dumped into 1 list is virtually un-usable.

Additionally, then having each of them open a new tab is incredibly difficult to deal with an navigate.
Sometimes it opens a new tab, and some times it replaces the one I'm looking at, or it replaces a seemingly random tab. The behavior is not very intuitive

[jakolehm]

The hot bar + having multiple bars to switch to was a great feature.

Good news: the hotbar is coming back, see https://forums.k8slens.dev/t/read-first-lens-the-new-ui-ux-known-issues/5224 .