Hello.
The usability beta has been tried out by over 570,000 users across all Wikimedia projects and roughly 80% of those beta users continue using it [1]. As for Commons, about 7,500 users tried out the beta as of end of February and 86% of users are still using it. The usability team is planning to roll out the current beta interface including the new toolbar as the default interface in April and May; please refer to these blogs for more details.[2][3]
As the acceptance rate of the beta by Commons users is relatively high, we would like to make the switch for Commons at first in the second week of April. In order to facilitate the transition and to avoid critical issues, we would like to ask as many of you as possible to try Beta before that date, so that most issues are discovered and fixed before we go default. You can opt-in via the 'Try Beta' link at the top of your interface.
We appreciate that Commons heavily relies on custom user scripts and site-specific JavaScript; Our changes are not especially related to multimedia usability, but we need your help to make sure the most used tools are compatible with the new interface. If you encounter issues using the beta, please share your feedback on the dedicated page [4].
Many thanks in advance.
Naoko Komura and the User Experience Programs Team
Wikimedia Foundation
[1] http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Beta_Feedback_Survey
[2] http://blog.wikimedia.org/2010/03/25/wikimedia-gets-ready-for-some-big-changes/
[3] http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2010/03/the-change-in-interface-is-coming/
[4] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Usability_issues_and_ideas
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