In Maple 2021, inserting white space is now easier.  In previous releases of Maple, you could only insert new document blocks above the in-focus block using the menu item Insert > Paragraph > Before Cursor or the key combination Ctrl + Shift + K (Command + Shift + K, Mac).

In Maple 2021, if you move the insertion point to the left of a document block (Home position), the cursor is now bold, as illustrated here: .$$

Now, if you press Enter, the in-focus prompt is moved down and a new document block created.

You can control this feature in the Interface tab of the Options dialog, using the Home + Enter inserts new line 2-D math check box.

In Document Mode, pressing Enter in a document block (math input) now moves the cursor to the next math input (in previous releases, the cursor may have moved to the start of the next line of text).

This means you can now quickly update parameters and see the downstream effects with just the Enter key.

In Maple, math can be executable or nonexecutable.  Often when integrating math into a paragraph of text, you want the math to be nonexecutable.  Now in Maple 2021, when using the F5 shortcut key to switch to math, you get nonexecutable math by default.

In particular, F5 is now a toggle button between three states: text, nonexecutable math, and executable math.

In addition, the context bar above your document now has three buttons that reflect these three states.  These function as an indicator of your current entry mode, and can be used to switch modes.  Click on the Text, Nonexecutable Math, or Math button to switch to that entry mode.

When a number is displayed in scientific notation, it is now displayed with a visible x, rather than implicit multiplication.

The default setting can be changed using the interface(scientificx) setting.  See interface.

Pressing Shift + Enter now inserts a new line.

Pressing Enter now executes the contents of the Code Edit region.

The output of Code Edit regions now contains a label reference. You can now also insert label references into Code Edit regions.

As of Maple 2021.1, you can now change the background color of button components via the Fill Color property.

Note that when using Fill Color, you must ensure that Draw border is not selected.

A new option is available if you want to keep auto-saved files.  The Keep files option is found in the General tab of the Options Dialog.  If Auto save is selected and this option is not selected (the default), a backup is saved only until you recover your saved worksheets.  If this option is selected, the backup remains even after you use File > Restore Backup.

When you type simply "e", in some cases Maple thinks perhaps your intended meaning is the exponential constant, and a warning message is displayed.  This is designed to help new users by showing them the right way to enter the exponential constant in Maple: use the symbol $\ⅇ$ or use the exp function.  A similar situation can occur with typing simply "d" instead of using the symbol $\ⅆ$ or a palette expression for $\frac{\ⅆ}{\ⅆx}$.

The warning messages, as well as the explanatory pages linked from those messages (for e and for d), provide concrete examples to help you enter expressions that are parsed properly by Maple, making problem solving easier.  However, based on user feedback, some users want an option to suppress these messages.  It is now possible to suppress these warning messages using Typesetting:-Settings(parserwarnings=false).

Maple now has a notification system that will be used to send you messages relevant to your use of Maple, such as the availability of a new release.  If you are signed in to your Maplesoft account, you may also receive messages related to your activities, such as a message when an update is available for a package you installed from the MapleCloud or a notice that someone has commented on your MaplePrimes post.  These types of messages may not be available when Maple 2021 is first released, but will be added over time.

Beside the MapleCloud icon on the right side of the toolbar is a new Bell icon ( ).  A blue dot on this icon indicates unread messages in the Message Center.  Click the Bell icon to view your messages.

One way to access Maple help is by using the search box on the Worksheet toolbar.  Now searching for terms is easier than ever.  You can now use copy-paste through your right-click (Command-click, Mac) menu to search for a help page or topic.

Copy the word or phrase, right-click (Command-click, Mac) on the search box, and select Paste.