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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: PROPOSAL: "Mac" menubar as default
From:       Andreas Pour <pour () mieterra ! com>
Date:       2000-04-27 20:47:28
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mosfet wrote:

Hi,

> 
> <IMHO - My Opionion Only!>
> The only people who say the mac-menubar is counter-intuitive is those
> trained on Windows and unwilling to learn new mechanisms. 

Well, I learned on an Apple IIE (or IIS, can't remember) and a Commodore
64; then I switched to Mac and X.  I have used Windows only since 1993,
when required to for work; and in my offwork time have used mainly X.

Why do you seem to ignore that the standard for *X* is menus at the top
of the window?  And why do you seem to ignore that using a pop-up menu
is even faster than Mac's menubar?

> Not only is
> the Mac mechanism viewed as superior by it's users, the Mac interface
> (esp the menubar) is widely regarded as superior by both the industry
> and UI design community. Even Windows magazines pratically owned by MS
> tip the hat to the Mac UI, and it is highly regarded as a better system
> for non-professionals.

I think there is one thing UI designers tell you, which is more
important than this, which you seem to ignore:  conform to standards! 
Nothing confuses users more than to have apps behave completely
differently.  And the standard in X is menus are at the top of the
window. Every single X program I have used in over 12 years has been
this way -- with the exception of the 3 or so days I toyed with Mac mode
in KDE.  And most programs KDE desktop users will use will be this way
too (in fact Gimp throws in a different mode altogether, which makes its
design less than desirable -- the popup menus are great, but the menubar
is very strangely placed and in total violation of Fitts law!).

One other standard from X is using pop-up menus.  The pop-up menubar
approach conforms to this standard *and* is faster than the Mac
approach.

(Of course this is all IMVHO).

Ciao,

Andreas

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