I'm finding I really really like the colour coding of obsolete components. It helps a ton in assessing ship designs at a glance. Its got me thinking about how that system could be expanded
![Smiley :)](http://aurora2.pentarch.org/Smileys/classic/smiley.gif)
I'm really into slow tech games (and really like the new reduced admin capacity option), so research goes slow, and designing new components for a ship can add considerably to its lead time. I often find myself in the position of wondering if a slightly out of date component would be a better option, and then trying to hunt through my obsolete components for that big sensor I think I remember having, or whatever. And that can take a while as the game progresses.
What I'm thinking is the game knows what tech is available when a component is designed, and what tech is currently available. If each tech was given an increasing score based on its tech level, it could be summed and compared to give a value of *how* obsolete a particular component is. The component could then be colour coded based on this, even when not marked as obsolete. So you'd get for example, a slightly darker shade for a search sensor that was designed before the last increase in EM tech, and a much darker shade for an early game, completely out of date, component. Components could also be primarily sorted based on that score, rather than just alphabetically.
This would give a better picture of what capabilities your ships have, and what are components are currently available to design new ones. Right now I immediately mark components as obsolete when I advance in tech, since I won't remember what's outdated otherwise. If this could be seen at a glace, the obsolete function would be more for organisation - when you decide something is so out of date it's pointless to see it listed, you can use it to reduce clutter.