Re: [Usability] Re: Future of the menu top bar?

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Sun, 14 May 2006, Reinout van Schouwen wrote:

> Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 21:59:54 +0200
> From: Reinout van Schouwen <reinouts gnome org>
> To: usability gnome org
> Subject: [Usability] Re: Future of the menu top bar?
>
> On Thu, 11 May 2006 16:33:22 +0100, Alan Horkan wrote:
>
> > [2] I don't know for sure what other distributions accept the default
> > layout.  Please do tell if your preferred distribution accepts the default
> > panel layout.
>
> Since you asked :)
>
> Mandriva uses a two-panel layout, with the application menu, a couple of
> launchers and applets at the top, and the taskbar + pager on the bottom.
>
> http://www.tuxmachines.org/gallery/albums/2006-04/gnome.jpg
>
> I'm not sure this is the default layout but I guess it is.
> As another data point, OS/2 Warp 4 and its successors have a menu bar at
> the top of the screen, not unlike the GNOME panel.

Thanks for that.

I should reveal my opinion at this stage: the menu bar is not bad but it
is not as good as the Macintosh and I think it would be better not to do
it that way at all until we can offer a full Macintosh style top bar.
Maybe it is not worth changing at all until there is a full Mac style menu
ready to replace it?

Again I'm worried when the very people who proposed the idea in the first
place (Ximian) are now rejecting it but Gnome carries on regardless.  I
guess the best thing to do at this stage is to try get more information
from Novell in case there is some reason why their conclusions might not
necessarily be right for Gnome even if it is right for them and their
customers.

I would have thought both Sun and Novell would want to avoid having to
maintain layouts different from the Gnome default but it must not be
too much hassle to maintain a relatively small but distinctive
difference.  Maybe this is an intentional differentiation point.

Now that is only my opinion and I can manage with either setup, although I
do tend to eventually get rid of the top bar.  Still the schism between
the Gnome defaults and two major distributions is something I'd prefer to
avoid but this may simply be part of the natural diversity we should
expect?

-- 
Alan