From: Michal Suchanek <hramrach@...>
Date: 2008-09-13T04:05:59+09:00
Subject: Re: A menubar for Shoes?

On 12/09/2008, Phlip <phlip2005@gmail.com> wrote:
> Various combatants wrote:
>
>
> >  Menus are a ubiquious part of GUIs; users know how to use them and what
> >  to expect.
> >
>
>  Menus are a Help system that lets you actually do the helped thing. They
> should also display the keystroke shortcut for an action. But...
>

That one was hard to parse..

Yes, in some applications like the AutoCAD the menu is just an addon
that lists some possible functions or makes them conveniently
available (like the middle button menu). The commands performed using
the menu are logged in the command window and can then be retyped by
the user which tends to be much faster even for people who are not
touch typists.

Unfortunately, most applications that do use menus use them as the
primary place for activating the listed functions. Some are replicated
as keyboard shortcuts or other UI elements but many are not, and the
keyboard shortcuts are rarely configurable.

One notable exception used to be the GIMP - earlier versions of the
program allowed the user to point at a menu item and define a keyboard
shortcut by simply pressing the key combination. Currently you have to
change an option hidden in a very complex dialog to activate this
function.

Thanks

Michal