Would OS X be better with a different method of menus?

[fisha]

(Not really sure which forum section to put this in really as its more of an open discussion on general UI methods)

In OS X, there is the single menu bar at the top of the screen which switches its content between whatever window is in focus. On MS Windows (and some Linux OS) the menu is attached to the top of each window. Both work fine in principle.

I admit that before this iMac (27”) I was nearly always PC based, so am very used to the Windows way of menus, however I can work the OS X method.

That being said, I’m really noticing that on a higher resolution larger screen such as the 27”, that the single menu is not necessarily more efficient. I’m finding that I seem to do a lot more mouse travel to get the menu’s (I do try keyboard shortcuts a lot but still) . . . and I sometimes fail to ensure the window I want to menu action is the one in focus . . . leading to yet more mouse travel back and forth (and frustration). For example, having a small text editing window in the bottom right corner, and having to travel the mouse all the way to the other side of the screen just for a menu action.

With that in mind, does anyone else think that if we keep pushing higher resolutions, then perhaps the menu-per-window method might be more effective for OS X ?

Or maybe even some hybrid menu system which slides down the menu when a window comes in focus, and slides up when out of focus?

Anyone else felt the same way?

 

[Ulenspiegel]

I myself came to the world of "enlightened ones" some weeks ago. Same way as you I have been using solely Windows, since 3.1. It took some days to get used to the world of Mac. I find it more sophisticaed, intuitive, much easier to handle. Nevertheless, like you I cant percept some of the basic features. I don't have any problems with the menu, though it is true that in some cases it is hard to realize what app's menu I am clicking on when I am in a hurry. Another issue I have is the Launchpad. As the origo of Mac (at least for me) is the Finder (in my case set to open with Applications) I don't see any sense in Launchpad. It just exists (in my case).

 

[fisha]

well, i've found myself the other way round regarding launcher

I assigned CMD+OPT+L for launcher (even though there is a dedicated key for it at the top! ) and press that then start typing the app name ... works well for me that way.

As for intuitive-ness I'm mixed opinion ... coming from Windows, some aspects are great, some aspects I really feel are years behind. Simple example is window pop-up options such as an application wanting to check if you want to click without saving ... you can't quickly navigate between selecting the buttons using the arrow key ... that sort of navigation is intuitive navigation which is completely blocked/ignored.

Another similar thing is lists like font selection boxes, with an item such as a font name in the list selected, you can't then navigate the selection up or down simply using the arrow keys either ... argh !

I think overall, yeah I do like the OS and the machine itself. The setup works well enough for me and has been very reliable ... but there is a lot I miss from the methodology of the windows OS where I found things worked better or more intuitively (in some cases)


I doubt it will change . . . but it would be interesting to try the window attached menus in OS X.

 

[Dave Braine]

How about...a three button mouse, and clicking the middle button brings up the menu at wherever the mouse pointer is?