[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: PROPOSAL: "Mac" menubar as default
From:       mosfet <mosfet () mandrakesoft ! com>
Date:       2000-04-26 20:49:36
[Download RAW message or body]

Well, I am certainly for it and have advocated the Mac menubar style as
the "One True Way" for a long, long time ;-) I never tried to get the
mac menubar as default tho, mostly because there are too many people
brainwashed (err, I mean trained ;-) on Windows :P

Kurt Granroth wrote:
> 
> 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?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 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

-- 
Daniel M. Duley - Unix developer & sys admin.
http://www.mosfet.org - The place for KDE development news.
mosfet@mandrakesoft.com
mosfet@kde.org

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]