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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Different menubar styles (was "Usability and open source")
From:       Rob Kaper <cap () capsi ! cx>
Date:       2000-02-01 7:56:24
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On Mon, Jan 31, 2000 at 11:58:49PM +0000, Rik Hemsley wrote:
> Ok, here's a rundown of the advantages and disadvantages I perceive
> with the different approaches to the menu bar.
<snip>

There is another one, which I'd like to add because of the second advantage:

- Mozilla sidebar style

Advantages:

    * Arranged vertically for easier traversal.
    * Has room for items that would normally require a pop-up window. (the
      "about box" for example)

Disadvantages:

    * Screen space wasted. (although you can easily resize it and/or make it
      dissapear)

I'm referring to the sidebar as of the M13 milestone, it changed a lot and I
liked it.

"The right way" would probably be making the best style (or a combination)
default, but adding a page to the Welcome wizard saying: "KDE 2.0 is a
little different in some ways. Try it and you'll like it. If you want to
stay with your old habits, that's fine too. Just choose an the interface you
are most familiar with from the list below. You can always change and/or
fine-tune it from the KDE Control Center." (and then a list with "Windows
interface", "Mac interface", "KDE 1.x interface", etc etc)

This doesn't really force users to use the "best" solution, but still allows
KDE to head the right way according to all design laws and interface rules.
But this is of course the classic issue when to go with the flow and when to
push/force better implementations.

Rob
-- 
Rob Kaper | mail: cap@capsi.com + cap@capsi.cx + cap@atomickitten.cx
          | web: http://capsi.com/ + http://capsi.cx/
          | "These are the people who proudly call themselves "hackers" --
          | not as the term is now abused by journalists to mean a computer
          | criminal, but in its true and original sense of an enthusiast,
          | an artist, a tinkerer, a problem solver, an expert." -- ESR

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