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Ubuntu 14.04 Brings Back Menus In Application Windows

sfcrazy writes "Canonical is bringing back menu integration with application windows. In 14.04 there will be an option for users to enable menus in application windows. That's a huge u-turn from Mark's stand on Global Menus which upset a lot of Ubuntu users."

10 of 255 comments (clear)

  1. Too much change harms by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A good property of UI is to remain stable so that user can get used to it. It would be nice if they could stop changing stuff on every release.

  2. Re:Nice to have the choice by jedidiah · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Linux users like what they want. That might not conform to whatever your personal preferences are or what's trendy. That doesn't make Linux users "luddites". It makes them something other than mindless drones.

    Beyond that, going out of your way to try and copy that other marginal player in the industry us just retarded. You will pretty much ensure that less saavy users are alienated by something that seeks to be annoyingly different for it's own sake.

    You think Linux users are luddites? We're not even close to that compared to the bulk of the potential users out there.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  3. Re:Why? by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is there any compelling reason for them to "stick" with something? Having the choice is a positive good. Unity's lack of options is what drove me away from it.

    Muscle memory. There is nothing more significant to a good user interface than being friendly to developing muscle memory. Everything else is secondary. Once you develop muscle memory, you don't care much what it looks like because you don't look at it. If you can't develop muscle memory, you won't ever enjoy using the device.

    That's why the many devices that are pure touch screen driven suck. They demand your constant attention like a mewling infant. The push to add hot spots and gestures and voice to all these touch screen devices is driven by this truth.

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  4. Re:Nice to have the choice by epyT-R · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, because anyone who questions your viewpoint and politics is obviously an ignorant luddite. ..and liberals wonder why others perceive them as arrogant, totalitarian, histrionic, narcissists. Tolerance and diversity only applies to their own viewpoints and protected castes, I guess.

    Global menus work ok for small desktops (1024x768 tops), but with huge desktops that have multiple windows side by side, having to select the window and move the mouse to the top of the screen to use the menu for it is a pain.

    Intelligent users like configurations that work for their workflows. When they are obviously changed out just for change's sake, they become irritated. This applies to any platform. Change for change's sake has become a fad in the last 5-6 years, and it's driving people nuts.

  5. It still has Unity by koan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the rest of the menu complaints are irrelevant.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  6. Re:Nice to have the choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe I should have just said people that are resistant to change.

    The is nothing wrong with resisting pointless change. I used Unity and didn't like it. Not because it was different, but because it wasn't an improvement.

  7. Re:OLD? Stupid crap still on 10.7 by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agreed with all of that except your comment on the scroll bars.

    Scroll bars are NOT needless clutter. They are a visual cue on the amount of content on the screen vs the amount of content that you can't see. Right now with a quick glance I can see I'm only half way through reading the comments. I can't do that if the bar is hidden, and I'd need to do something like move the page.

    I hate this on touchscreens as well but it's more forgiveable since any finger touching the screen will make the bars reappear. I can't do that while I'm typing on a keyboard.

  8. Change for change's sake is annoying by cyber-vandal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm still using a physical keyboard because it's better than a touch keyboard. The Windows 8 interface was an unnecessary and inconvenient change and yes I know you can do X, Y and Z to make it less annoying but then what was the point of the change? It hasn't improved anyone's experience and just puts extra, undocumented steps in that confuse everyone, even the techies. That goes double for Server 2012 where Metro is a completely unnecessary nuisance.

  9. Re:OLD? Stupid crap still on 10.7 by advid.net · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Global menus

    Mac OS has been like this since System 1. And it makes sense; whatever you're doing, its menu is going to be in the same place. Fitts' law indicates that the most quickly accessed targets on any computer display are the four corners of the screen.

    I've read the question 5 and its answers about global menu superiority.

    I would like to emphasize this:
    - I've been using Macintosh, Unix workstations, MS PC (DOS,Win3.1 up to Win8), Linux PC with various WM/Desktop, etc.
    - Global menu was fine for me on Macintosh Classic 9-inch display, for any task.
    - Global menu is painful and irritating on 24-inch display, for most of the creative tasks.

    I suspect that this is not only a matter of how long the cursor travel though the screen, but also about how much you have to adjust your gaze on the area requiring your attention.

    Fitts' law fails to address that point, even if you can do things quicker it might not be as productive if it's uncomfortable and tiring.

    Regarding GUI, Apple has failed on several points with nowdays huge displays, for instance it tooks them years to allow window size adjustment on any border (instead of a tiny triangle on bottom right). The feature comes with Lion in 2011... That's a shame.

  10. Re:Nice to have the choice by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sometimes I think some linux users are a bunch of luddites with strong right wing conservative leanings

    and liberals wonder why others perceive them as arrogant, totalitarian, histrionic, narcissists

    How the fuck can people take a discussion about a UI element to fucking politics? It's not even a good political discussion, it the same stereotyped shit we read about everyday, where there are only two fucking views on each subject and they are both ludicrously inflexible. I thought for certain no one would fall for the obvious, weak flamebait of the first post, but lo and behold, the discussion has degenerated into things like

    Of course, that's why you elect politicians who'd love to stamp out free speech, right? To make it my problem, and make up for the fact your arguments are without merit?

    Come on, tell me the truth: you guys disliked the new design and are poisoning the content, too, so as to encourage our transition to a better place, right? Because no one can be that unproductively disruptive unless on purpose.