In reply to mor10.

Let's be blunt here: The problem here is that not only has the change been poorly communicated and poorly explained, there is still a major lack of a really good reason for forcing this change in the first place.

Over the time since this started, I have finally figured out that the issue is most related to using wordpress admin on a smart phone or small screen tablet, with a side order of "we love the customizer!". It's perhaps the most classic case of causing the most harm to create limited benefits that might be better in the future.

The issue then becomes quite simply: What harm is done to desktop / larger screen users in order to make small screen users happy, and what are the percentage of users in each case?

I just don't think anyone bothered to work through the full justification case. Would this perhaps not be better being handled by a plug in or special admin setup template for small screen users? Are we talking about fixing something for 10% of users and causing needless change for the other 90%?

It doesn't help that the customizer isn't always the best tool. The customizer widget section, as an example, is a huge backward step from the existing process, at least for desktop users, making a simple job into one that is much more labor intensive. Is this perhaps not the best tool for the job?

I think a lot of this decision is based on "we love the customizer!" rather than any solid basis of user demand, requirement, or need.