In an interesting bit of news, the unique structure bars in the XML Editor of Flare is now patented.
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/company/presscenter/pr20110329.aspx
The structure bars have been in use in the MadCap Software line of products first seen in Flare version 1. 
It has undergone improvements in each version, user feedback and support driving some of it primarily, making the bars easier to use, becoming more mature in each iteration. Ultimately the structure bars remains largely unchanged visually.
For new users the structure bars always take a bit of initial adjustment.
Once you overcome them, you’ll start discovering that it provides you with lots of useful context of tags in a topic, including things you can accomplish without cluttering the interface with too much tag mark up. If you’ve worked with other DITA based XML editors, where markup tags in DITA can often take more space than lots of ‘p’ or paragraph tags, you’ll appreciate the utility of being able to work within the bars in time.
Here’s to more innovations!
magus75
April 13, 2011
May the help author choose to turn them off? They seem to consume a substantial amount of screen real estate that would allow the author to focus more on the content.