broken_keyboard said:
It is a visual representation of the fact an OS. It should be where app launching is done from.
I follow your logic, but I disagree. From my point of view, application launching is too broad a part of the OS--encompasing the same design system as opening documents, and requiring a lot of user flexibility--to be considered part of an immutable "core", even if it is in reality the main point of the OS.
The Apple menu is instead a place for always-available "system" level functions--things that are a central part of the operantion of the computer, and specifically not something the user can (ordinarily) manipulate. In that way, it makes perfect sense to keep Applications (other than recent items, which by that tolken doesn't even quite belong there) out of the Apple menu.
Think of it like this: The OS "owns" the content of the Apple menu, and so it never changes and is not user-controlled. The Dock, on the other hand, is the central hub for applications and quick access that the user does have partial control over, hence its flexibility.
What you're picturing is what was the old Application menu (it was on the far right of the menu bar), which used to show what was running, what app was in front, and let you switch between anything open. That wasn't a bad design idea, but after I adjusted to the Dock I've started to prefer it to shareware that re-creates that functionality; when there's something I put in the Dock, it's always in the same place whether it's open or not, so I never need to hunt.
Likewise applications have now been given their own named menu, their analogy to the system's always-the-same Apple menu, which makes a lot more sense than having Quit in the File menu like it used to be.
The old Apple menu, by the way, used to hold a lot of small application tools, but you could put absolutely anything in there. In that way, the Dock is like a combination of the old Application and Apple menus, and although there was some convienence to the old way, it could also get VERY messy (particularly now that you can have hundreds of apps installed and dozens open simultaneously), and it was very inconsistent from system to system. I've grown to appreciate the Dock as an alternative.
Now if only you could easily lock custom-added Dock icons to prevent novice users from accidentally removing them.
The apple menu is a shortcut to get to the "special" things... Like shutdown, restart, system prefs., logout, etc. The dock is used to launch applications, and does a very nice job. I don't see the problem I guess...
