here is the video explaining the idea

The native 'Entity Info' changes the material[s]/layer/hidden-status and for edges soft/smooth-settings too.
It reports areas for faces and volumes for 'solid' objects...
For text etc you can edit related settings in there too...
For groups/components you can edit 'names'.
The move/rotate/scale etc is done more easily within the model itself...

Yes, I might use it (if it were on Mac) for those tools I use sometimes, but not enough for a shortcut memorization. So I would not be interested in seeing the basic SU tools but some plugins only.

I also like Kris's idea on levels, or at least say 5 categories so that one expands at at time.

The lowest cost 3D solid modeler I have found that works well with SketchUp is Alibre.
They have a hobby version for $200. I have used the pro version for years doing product design and found it to work well.