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The global menu was a reasonable idea for its time. It seems it's main selling points are that it's easy to find and requires less precision with a pointing dev

The global menu was a reasonable idea for its time. It seems it's main selling points are that it's easy to find and requires less precision with a pointing device. It seems to work well when you have one, maybe two windows open. But the idea falls flat on its face when you have multiple screens with multiple windows, which window does the menu belong to and why is it detached from my current working context? As most of us have grown up using some sort of pointing device, the argument for speed and accuracy has also lost some relevance.

rbreaves 5y ago
I use multiple monitors with global menus all the time and I have never been confused by which app a global menu is associated with unless I walked away and come back and 2 or more windows are not overlapping or dimmed in some way. In reality there are too many context clues and we, as humans, can only interact with one application at a time. Any argument against global menus are really unfounded - the only argument that holds any water at all is one of what you are used to. People at the end of the day just want to use what they are already used to - whether global menus are superior or inferior is really moot because most people aren't going to get past the "what they are used to part" and will deride it largely on that alone. This is coming from a Windows user that only started to use macOS after like 10 years of Windows usage and no really liking the global menu, or one click mouse and numerous other things about the Mac, but gave it a shot any ways as initially it drew me with its nice looks, but then the UNIX underpinnings & POSIX compliance kept me with the platform. I wasn't even looking for UNIX or POSIX either at the time - but it is now an invaluable part of my workflow, as are global menus and Cmd key positioned for my thumb, not my pinky. I wrote https://kinto.sh https://kinto.sh to help bring over the shortcut keys I am used to as well to Linux and Windows.
- zxzax 5y ago
  >Any argument against global menus are really unfounded I disagree, for an example: global menus do not work well at all with focus-follows-mouse. It's not really possible to design a good system that has both. I've seen various attempts to try to make focus-follows-mouse work on macOS, and the usability is very poor. Similarly, you will have bad usability trying to plug global menus into a system that isn't really focused around the concept of menus. But I think you're right that in the end it doesn't really matter, someone can get used to doing it either way.
- NwtnsMthd 5y ago
  Slightly off topic, how'd you get used to the Cmd key? I've tried but I hate it. It's like I'm doing yoga with my hands, bending my thumb while reaching over it with my index finger. The ctrl key tethering my pinky gives a much larger range of motion without cramping my hand.

rbreaves 5y ago

I use multiple monitors with global menus all the time and I have never been confused by which app a global menu is associated with unless I walked away and come back and 2 or more windows are not overlapping or dimmed in some way. In reality there are too many context clues and we, as humans, can only interact with one application at a time. Any argument against global menus are really unfounded - the only argument that holds any water at all is one of what you are used to. People at the end of the day just want to use what they are already used to - whether global menus are superior or inferior is really moot because most people aren't going to get past the "what they are used to part" and will deride it largely on that alone. This is coming from a Windows user that only started to use macOS after like 10 years of Windows usage and no really liking the global menu, or one click mouse and numerous other things about the Mac, but gave it a shot any ways as initially it drew me with its nice looks, but then the UNIX underpinnings & POSIX compliance kept me with the platform. I wasn't even looking for UNIX or POSIX either at the time - but it is now an invaluable part of my workflow, as are global menus and Cmd key positioned for my thumb, not my pinky. I wrote https://kinto.sh https://kinto.sh to help bring over the shortcut keys I am used to as well to Linux and Windows.

zxzax 5y ago
>Any argument against global menus are really unfounded I disagree, for an example: global menus do not work well at all with focus-follows-mouse. It's not really possible to design a good system that has both. I've seen various attempts to try to make focus-follows-mouse work on macOS, and the usability is very poor. Similarly, you will have bad usability trying to plug global menus into a system that isn't really focused around the concept of menus. But I think you're right that in the end it doesn't really matter, someone can get used to doing it either way.
NwtnsMthd 5y ago
Slightly off topic, how'd you get used to the Cmd key? I've tried but I hate it. It's like I'm doing yoga with my hands, bending my thumb while reaching over it with my index finger. The ctrl key tethering my pinky gives a much larger range of motion without cramping my hand.