When I recommend to someone that they should use Drupal for a project it is not uncommon for them to question my wisdom on the subject. Those new to Drupal are often shocked by Drupal's initial learning curve, no rich text editor in the core, and a user interface with a longer workflow than it really should be. As powerful and functional as Drupal can be it historically has had usability issues.
Luckily, Drupal's developers have recognized these usability issues and over the past couple years have made great effort to group together and improve Drupal's user interface. In fact, last year I was able to meet a few of the developers in one of Drupal's first usability exercises. The Drupal community is serious about improving Drupal for Drupal's non-tech users. In the past year, Drupal developers have focused improving the Drupal user experience and roll those improvements into Drupal 7.
There is a lot of information out there regarding the user interface and workflow improvements that are being pushed into Drupal 7. One of the best summaries I've read on the Drupal 7 improvements can be found on this page at Rufzeichen Webdesign: Cinderella unfolds her beauty - Drupal UI Report. So if you've tried Drupal before but preferred another CMS with better eye candy, you might want to come back and give Drupal 7 a try when it is finally ready for release. Drupal 7 will be ready when it's ready and I don't think you'll regret waiting for it.
This article first appeared on CMS Report.