RE: Stock items (button images / menu images etc)

[coul hccnet nl]

Emmanuele Bassi wrote:

> in general, you should also question the icons usage: overloading the UI
with visual cues ends up distracting the >user, and in general the
written word is more apt to describe actions than a bare icon, unless the
icon is >unequivocally tied to a specific action (e.g. standard images).

One should not forget that smaller freeware programs tend to be available
in only one language, usually English. And for the majority of people
English is not the main language. Therefore for all users not good in
English GUI icons can be a big help. Also when you have long menus, menu
icons help to more quickly locate the item you want, even for the author
of the software himself. So I disagree that icons could be distracting is
a valid reason not to use them. And I'm annoyed that Ubuntu has switched
off menu and button icons by default.

Manuel