Well, I think that many, if not most, users will agree with you that the interface is slow-ish and not fit for the fast and more experienced editors with large workloads. Add to that the PD has a number of flaws in its operation. CL has over the last year made changes to the interface, which sometimes drove the 365 users, who got these changes in their monthly updates without any warning. These changes caused delays in the usage not only because users had to discover how the new contraption would work (if at all), but moreover the changes were not always for the benefit of the fast editors with large workloads. More for the occasional users, who were also in need of a number of the many stickers released every month. Cyberlink apparently expects much from these occasional users, the more demanding users will find their way to other more professional editors. Which is a shame, because PD has a lot of potential.
If you have questions, complaints and suggestions for the CL sales department and the developers, I suggest you use the Rate us & provide suggestion option in the PD file menu, to tell that to Cyberlink directly.

Is this only when using the touchscreen? Are there settings to change the behavior of the touchscreen? I can't imagine trying to use PD with a touchscreen only -- the interface is enough of a nightmare with the mouse and keyboard.

Quote Is this only when using the touchscreen? Are there settings to change the behavior of the touchscreen? I can't imagine trying to use PD with a touchscreen only -- the interface is enough of a nightmare with the mouse and keyboard.

i
meant the keyboard I don't think there will be many users using a touchscreen

Quote Apparently a toolbar pops up when you click on a video, giving access to Speed control and other functions.

That's not correct. Normal (left) clicking on a clip using a mouse or trackpad cursor doesn't bring up any menu, although right-clicking does.

The normal procedure is to select the clip and then click on the Edit button that will appear above the timeline (shown in the yellow box in the below screenshot).

This is a change from previous versions as Warry noted, and the steps are identical whether using a mouse, trackpad or touch. To access the right-click menu without a mouse/trackpad, touch the icon in the green box:



Once you have applied a tool or effect, you can touch or click on the small "i" box at the start of the clip to quickly reach the tool again as shown in your second pic.