OSDev.org

The problem with having the menu on the top of screen, like on OS X, is that:
1. There is only menu visible at a time, so if you have a large screen with many windows open you have to switch to the correct window before using the menu.
2. It's not immediately obvious which program the menu belongs to.

The problem with having the menu inside the window, like on Windows, is that it's much harder to hit the menu items. On OS X you simply smash the cursor upwards. If you do that on Windows the cursor goes past the menu and onto the title bar, which almost no one clicks anyways.

So how about combining these features? Both ease of understanding, ease of clicking and multiple menus? By placing the menu in the title bar just that happens. When the window is maximized it works like on OS X. If you work with multiple windows beside each other it works like on Windows. (OBVIOUSLY the window border should not be there when the window is maximized, this is rather obvious, but still seems impossible to understand for some Linux morons.)



Another good thing is that this limits the number of menu items you can have before it starts to fill up. This is good for ease-of-use. The help menu can be replaced with a ? or i-in-a-circle (info) button.

Have you ever seen the window layout on BeOS? It doesn't look exactly like the picture you posted, but the effect is the same.

I voted for OS X-style. I think problem #1 isn't a problem because you have to switch to the right window before using the menu anyway, and #2 isn't a problem nearly as often as you'd think (although a bit of re-training is involved). In any case, I think Fitts' Law trumps both problems.

I don't think you understood the effect. The menu on BeOS has exactly the same problem as the one on Windows: You don't enjoy the unlimited vertical size of the target.

With my system you will be able to do that, just maximize the window. If the window is not maximized, you don't need to switch to the other window if you want to click its menu bar, you just click it.

one thing im constantly grateful for, is that windows doesnt place the buttons in the far corner and top -- if they were, i would be constantly hitting it on accident -- as it is i often unintentionally close FF -- fortunately, FF warns you if you try to close it (as long as you have multiple tabs open...)

personally, if something belongs to a window, it should be with that window -- the only things that should ever be apart from the window, are things that are completely unrelated to that window (such as the task-bar... it isnt related to any window, and therefore isnt attached to any window), but the menus are related to the window (and are controlled by code from the window) and therefore should always be part of the window

Craze Frog wrote:I don't think you understood the effect. The menu on BeOS has exactly the same problem as the one on Windows: You don't enjoy the unlimited vertical size of the target.

Ah, yes... I forgot about the little tab things. I never actually tried maximizing a window on BeOS.

JAAman wrote:personally, if something belongs to a window, it should be with that window -- the only things that should ever be apart from the window, are things that are completely unrelated to that window (such as the task-bar... it isnt related to any window, and therefore isnt attached to any window), but the menus are related to the window (and are controlled by code from the window) and therefore should always be part of the window

That's a nice rationalization, but most users rely on muscle memory to find things, not their conscious minds. This is what I would call "low-level" psychology and has a lot more to do with the autonomous functions of the brain and nervous system than you might think.

Fitts' Law FTW! Any UI designer who ignores it is simply incompetent, IMO.

<edit>Arg, who puts a single quote in a URL anyway??