[kricker]

I don't recall cases where Esc doesn't close context menus, osds, etc.. could you cite some examples? Also which skins are you using? Thanks

Actually you are correct. I was speaking in reverse. It is "backspace" that does not close context menus and info menus "esc" closes those. But, and this is what I think spurs my confusion, "backspace" does close the Filemanger. Filemanager in PM3.HD is accessed from the settings menu. All of the sub menu settings are exited using "esc" and not "backspace". Filemanager on the other hand can be exited with "esc" and "backspace" provided your at a root level of the selected drive. Being someone used to an overall "back" button, as soon as I close the Filemanager (For some reason I am in there quite a bit) my brain switches to that mode. I forgot to think about what is a directory and what is a menu.

As a user I don't see why there needs to be a differentiation between screens and directories... When I navigate I really don't think of it that way. Personally, I'm used to the notion of going forward one screen, going back one screen regardless of type, as in the iPod, Apple Tv, Media portal.

This to me is more evident in Library mode, especially when navigating TV Shows. When you select a show, it shows you the seasons, then when you select a season it shows you the shows. If I want to select another TV show I go back a couple of "screens". As a user I just see them as screens, I don't think of them as directories.

By forcing the user to have Esc and Backspace for navigation, he's forced to think about which of the screens are screens and which are directories. I think this is just confusing and completely unnecessary.

My sentiments exactly

I did notice that the "menu" button opens a context menu and closes it as well. Sage has a similar behavior which I have grown accustom to. The button that opens an option dialog also closes that same dialog. This does happen in XBMC in FullScreen video mode. "m" opens and closes the player controls, "i" opens and closes the OSD info, "o" opens and closes the codec info. If this were universal throughout the GUI, I think most of my control issues would go away. I have also always disliked the "backspace" as smallstepback and have always changed it to stop.