toolbar questions

[Erick Woods <erick ljm net>]

Can someone please explain something for me?  I look at the toolbars in 
GNOME and they drive me crazy.  They take up way too much space.  If you 
compare spacing with Windows, it is really bad.  I use GNOME exclusively 
on my laptop.  I have limited screen space.  Every app uses way too much
for toolbars that I like to have.  I have made an image comparing Word
against Abiword to demonstrate this.  It can be found at: 

http://www.erick.com/gtb.png   

Is there a reason for this?  As you can see the difference is a total of
19 pixels for 3 similar toolbars.  That may not be many, but it is when
screen real estate is limited.   Is it just a theme issue?  I have tried
other themes and that doesn't seem to make a difference, but I have not
looked at them as closely.  Just a lot of undesirable white space, IMHO.

Thanks!

Erick