I'm a big fan of VisualEditor. We use it internally at my work with our two wikis. So please take this criticisms as a positive and honest inquiry.
It seems counterintuitive to hide common text style options such as bold and italic. Common editing interfaces else ware (WordPress, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, etc.) show the basic tools on the tool bar. The design decision in VisualEditor seems to skew toward those that are aware of, and conformable with, keyboard shortcuts.
Are there metrics being tracked that show what interface elements are used the most when editing wiki content? Is my situation 'weird' in that my wiki editors do use the menu and apply text styles frequently?
Is this VE design decision to dissuade editors from mucking with text styles?
Don't roll your eyes, but I support and educate co-workers with an internal wiki as part of my work responsibilities. This is #2 the most confusing issue* folks have when editing a page, they have to first discover where the options are and then click again to apply.
- 1 is not being able to edit tables. :)