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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    PROPOSAL: "Mac" menubar as default
From:       Kurt Granroth <granroth () kde ! org>
Date:       2000-04-26 19:08:36
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We had the capability in KDE 1.x and now in 2.0 to have a MacOS-like
menubar on the top of the screen.  I propose that we make this the
*default* menubar state in KDE 2.0.

Of course, we can keep it configurable so that those people that like
doing things very slow can do so... but having it as a default has
several advantages:

First, the Mac menubar is proven to be up to FIVE times faster for
searching and selecting a menu item.  This is as opposed to the
windows-style menubar which is attached to each window.  If you want
to get technical, this is due to Fitts Law

Second, it gives us yet one way to differentiate us from being a
"windows-clone".  I'll admit that this is a very minor point... but
since we're already going with a different widget set and panel and
such, it couldn't hurt here either.

Third, did I mention that using a mac menubar is MUCH faster?

I'm appending a section from the AskTog website concerning this as he
can tell it better then I can...

Thoughts?
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http://www.asktog.com/columns/022DesignedToGiveFitts.html

Question 5

 Explain why a Macintosh pull-down menu can be accessed at least five
 times faster than a typical Windows pull-down menu. For extra credit,
 suggest at least two reasons why Microsoft made such an apparently
 stupid decision.

Microsoft, Sun, and others have made the decision to mount the menu
bar on the window, rather than at the top of the display, as Apple
did. They made this decision for at least two reasons:

  A.Apple claimed copyright and patent rights on the Apple menu bar 
  B.Everyone else assumed that moving the menu bar closer to the user,
    by putting it at the top of the window, would speed things up. 

Phalanxes of lawyers have discussed point 1. Let's deal with point
two. The Apple menu bar is a lot faster than menu bars in windows.
Why? Because, since the menu bar lies on a screen edge, it has an
infinite height. As a result, Mac users can just throw their mice
toward the top of the screen with the assurance that it will never
penetrate and disappear.

Unless, of course, I'm testing them at the time. I did a test at Apple
where I mounted one monitor on top of another, with the menu bar at
the top of the lower display. The only way the user could get to the
top monitor way by passing through the menu bar enroute.

I then gave users the task of repeatedly accessing menu bar items.
When they first started out, they penetrated into the upper screen by
around nine inches on average, just because their mouse velocity was
so high. Then they learned they had to slow down and really aim for
the menu. By the time they adjusted, their menu-access times became so
ponderously slow, they took around the same time as the average
Windows user.

The other "advantage" usually ascribed to a menu bar at the top of
each window is that they user always knows where to look for the items
pertaining to the task they are carrying out. This is silly. Users may
do various tasks within a given window, and the menu items may change.
Not only that, but a great many perverse applications exist,
particularly in the Sun world, where the menu bar you need to access
is not even in the window in which you are working! That is truly
bizarre and mind-bending.

Microsoft applications are beginning to offer the possibility, in
full-screen mode, of a menu bar at the top of the display. Try this
out in Word or Excel. It is much faster. Microsofts general
cluelessness has never been so amply displayed, however, as it is in
Microsoft Visual Studio, which has a menu bar at the top of the screen
with a one-pixel barrier between the screentop and the menu. Talk
about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
-- 
Kurt Granroth            | http://www.granroth.org
KDE Developer/Evangelist | SuSE Labs Open Source Developer
granroth@kde.org         | granroth@suse.com
           KDE -- Putting a Friendly Face on Unix

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