RIP ArcCatalog and other changes in 9.4

From mandown

ArcCatalog will no longer be a separate application in ArcGIS Desktop 9.4. It will be integrated as a window within ArcMap. Old-schoolers may remember when ArcToolbox was a seperate application (pre 8.3?), and now it is like a toolbar accessable in ArcMap and ArcCatalog. I expect ArcCatalog will function the same way. I've really never understood the reasoning behind the two applications. Hopefully this will be the end of pointless schema locks. Yes!

I also like the idea that the docability of the toolbars will be improved to Visual Studio's feel. Oh how much time I've wasted trying to get the Tool toolbar and the Layout toolbar positioned exactly where I want them.

"ArcMap will sport a similar feel to Microsoft Visual Studio. Dockable windows and improved toolbars ... ArcCatalog will be built into ArcMap and made available via a dockable window. Drag and drop will be supported as well."

I also love to script in Python, so I'm glad to hear -

"... Python will be integrated within ArcMap. A new Python window will be available directly from ArcMap which will allow you to run and debug Python scripts directly. Python scripts will also run asynchronously so you can continue working while your script is running in the background."

But 9.4 is "quite a while off". By these two changes alone, I think this will be the most significant upgrade at the desktop level (at least for me) since 8.3.

If you have more to add, please comment. As of now I haven't seen this too much covered yet from the DevSummit.