[Usability]Re: Should the HIG advise use of Check and Radio menu items?

[Michael Toomim <toomim uclink4 berkeley edu>]

Gregory Merchan wrote:
> They solve one problem: in most themes, including the default theme,
> an untoggled radio or check menu item can not be distinguished from
> a normal menu item.

Is this really an issue?  Here's the current version of gnome-terminal's 
"view" menu before selecting any of the boolean items:

 ----------------
|  View          |
|----------------|
|  Hide Menubar  |
|  Fullscreen    |
 ----------------

Here's what it would look like with checkboxes instead of mutating 
menu-items:

 ----------------
|  View          |
|----------------|
|  Hide Menubar  |
|  Fullscreen    |
 ----------------

It's exactly the same!  You can't say that there's a problem with the 
checkmarks being invisible when unselected, because it's exactly the 
same as the non-checkmark technique!  When unselected, the 'Fullscreen' 
item makes the window fullscreen; it really doesn't matter if there's a 
checkmark next to it or not.

So I don't think it's a good idea to file that bug with GTK+.

The only difference (and thus the real argument) is between the 
"selected" cases.

Here's the current version of gnome-terminal's view menu after selecting 
"fullscreen":

 -----------------------
|  View                 |
|-----------------------|
|  Hide Menubar         |
|  Restore Normal Size  |
 -----------------------

Here's what it would look like if it used check boxes.

 ----------------
|  View          |
|----------------|
|  Hide Menubar  |
|X Fullscreen    |
 ----------------

Of these two, I happen to prefer the latter.  The reason: Say I hit 
fullscreen, and then want to go back and change it -- I'll be looking 
for a menu-item that says "Fullscreen", since that's what I hit 
originally.  If you change the names of items on the menu, it makes the 
UI hard to predict and hard to keep track of.  This isn't a huge issue, 
but it seems like a potentially valid point.  Does anyone know any other 
issues with either technique?