1) The most common issue I usually encounter is the inability to quickly switch between tasks. I know it may sounds like bad multitasking, but it's not it at all. When I pasively work on something like organizing my music or book library, I usually have BRU running the entire day, and throughout that day, I occasionally need to use it for something more urgent. So I often need to do one thing, then do another (often on an entirely unrelated set of files), then re-do the first one, and so on. Because of that, I'm forced to re-enter the parameters over and over again. The only other way I know is saving a preset as .bru and opening it Recent, but it's kind of clumsy and only works for recent files.
• Allowing multiple instance of the program to run simultaneously would largely solve this issue and could be fantastic for some cases, since you could keep the preset and file selection in one instance and just do whatever quick task you needed to do in another.
• It would also help if the program had an ability to save and load presets in a more convenient manner. For example, an extra "Presets" or menu on the top (File, Actions, etc) toolbar, to have a 5-10 slots for saving preset options and quickly opening them via a keyboard shortcut like CTRL+SHIFT+(1..9).
• Another related note is that .bru files don't work when the program is open. If it's closed, clicking a .bru file opens the program with its saved preset, but when the program is already running, clicking a .bru file does nothing. Would be helpful if it activated its preset in the opened window.
2) As for other suggestions, these are less important and I actually forget most of the "minor annoyances" I've had over the years. I'll try to recall a few off the top of my head.
• Wildcards in Replace (3) would be a godsend. Something like:
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* = match any number of characters.
? = match a single character.
# = match a single numerical digit.
So if I wanted to find specific 4-digit year values like "2001 1080p", "2002 or "2016" and replace them to something like "(2001) 1080p", "(2002)" and "(2016)", with this system I'd simply use "Replace: 20?? with (20??) or "20## with (20##)". I admit, it may be ignorance on my part and not the program's shortcoming, but I'm used to using wildcards in other software and don't know a similarly quick way to do it in BRU. The help doesn't seem to have any info on wildcards and using * in Replace (3) has no effect.
• I wouldn't mind seeing a "Clear List" button in the the address bar, right next to "Up". A keyboard shortcut (CTRL-SHIFT-N, perhaps?) for clearing the file list would also be nice. The problem with File->New (CTRL-N) is that it resets everything, not just the file selection.
• I think I've had cases where the Replace (3) box could use "First Numeric" and "Last" (start searching from end) options. Hardly a priority.
• Another extremely minor thing: using boolean operators in Filters (12). This is not a missing feature, just a minor convenience option for people who don't know how to use it. When I first tried masking mkv and mp4 files, I tried "*.mkv | *.mp4", as I would usually do in other programs like Everything. When this and "*.mkv || *.mp4" didn't work, my first reaction was that you couldn't mask several extensions at once, which is, of course, completely false. I had to look up Help to come up with the right "*.mkv *.mp4" syntax. I would even mention it except for the fact that you could simply drop the "|" while parsing the mask with a 5-minute code tweak and make both input options viable.
I think I'll stop for now. This is mostly meant as a constructive criticism, to help move an already great program even closer to perfection. If you can use any of these, perfect. If not, I'll remain just as thankful to you nevertheless. Happy Holidays!