[Usability] Re: Mac-style menus?

[Damian Haase <damian blinkingman com>]

> > On Thursday 28 October 2004 14:15, Sean Middleditch wrote:
> > And then, of course, the fact that simply putting the menu up there
> > isn't really a complete solution.  Mac OS doesn't differ solely in
> > putting the menu in a consistent location - it differs by having an
> > actual design to those menus which makes sense given the global menu
> > bar.
Apple has guidelines regarding the composition and contents of the application menus, yes. Let's not forget that GNOME has this too:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/menus-standard.html

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 14:57:13 +0000, Frans Englich wrote: 
> I haven't used Mac OS, but IIRC from screenshots and the like, they have a 
> design which emphasizes the document centralization, by making the File menu 
> etc document specific, and having a separate application menu. I don't know 
> -- feel free to elaborate, I would surely like to hear more.
MacOSX moved the application commands (such as Quit and Preferences) into a new menu, the left-most text menu (i.e. aside from the Apple Menu). You can see this in the big screen shot on this page, where the active application is Finder, the file manager: 
http://www.apple.com/macosx/

Previous to OSX, the Quit command lived in File, as is done by everyone else (GNOME, Windows, etc.) still, and Preferences lived kinda wherever. I work in MacOS, Windows, and GNOME interchangeably throughout my work day, and the only thing that works for me about the application menu is that I know where to look to access the preferences. But I'm a long-time MacOS user and OSX grates on me, so that may just be me. Apple's justification for making the changes that they did to the UI were that new users would learn more easily, not that old-timers would re-learn or adjust easily. Reminds me of the spatial Nautilus shrill-fest.

> However, while the layout of the menu may make the central menu bar even 
> better(or even complete), I think the central menu bar can be an improvement, 
> I find aspects which aren't affected by what's in it. Or can using a central 
> menu bar be a downgrade depending on how one layout the content, and if so, 
> in what way?

I must say that I have no trouble using either the shared menubar on MacOS or the window-specific menubars in Windows and GNOME, or switching among them. So at least for me, they are equivalent and the difference doesn't register often. The argument in favor of a shared menubar seems to be about not wanting to waste screen real estate having menus on every window, plus Fitt's Law states that the menus are easier targets since they're at the edge of the screen. 

I have seen and heard anecdotal evidence, though, that some total newbies don't understand the contextual nature of the shared menubar. There is not always a clear connection in people's minds between the document in the foreground and the application displaying that document, and they don't understand to expect things to change in the menubar when switching applications. I have never seen such conceptual confusion arise from window-specific menubars. Again, this is entirely anecdotal.

What aspects of the shared menubar do you deem superior to window-specific menubars?

- Damian