I think it would be great if the floating windows for materials, components, styles, etc. were unable to cover the bottom right input window.
Perhaps this is an issue only on laptops with smaller screens, but frequently I will start to draw a line or move an object and realize that I cannot see the box because a window is on top of it. I then have to escape out of my action and then move or close the window and then do it again.
Maybe if the move or line tool was engaged, then this box would come to the top of the screen. Or perhaps it could float close to the cursor like in AutoCAD.
It’s only a Mac issue. I like your suggestion although I expect the better and more wished for option is to change the entire UI for the panels to be more like that on Windows with a tray to contain them. On my MacBook Pro, I just leave the drawing window narrow enough that there’s room for the small windows on the right outside the drawing space. It’s the same thing I used to do on the PC before the introduction of the tray. I’ve never missed the model space width since it was always covered with the windows before anyway.
This is a Mac-specific issue due to the way the GUI is implemented and default macOS handling of an app’d windows. The developers haven’t done much to the SketchUp GUI on Mac in years despite numerous requests and complaints.
It can be moved to the single customizable toolbar at the top of each window. It cannot be made free-floating.
Edit: I did that because, as @DaveR pointed out, the best way to keep the inspectors from obscuring the model window is to keep them at the right and limit the model window’s width - but that means there is a limited amount of space for the status bar prompts, and they are often truncated. Putting the VCB in the toolbar leaves all the space in the status bar free for prompts.
