4 ms·

I know some people like it, but I find the top menu bar on a mac extremely non ergonomic. The argument goes that it's an easy spot to hit: Just move your mouse

by ars 2y ago

I know some people like it, but I find the top menu bar on a mac extremely non ergonomic. The argument goes that it's an easy spot to hit: Just move your mouse to the top. But they forget that in order to use the menu bar you have to activate the app! In other OS's, if you want to pick an item from an inactive app, just click - it will activate the app, and pick the item from the menu bar at the same time. Not so with a mac. If you click on an active area of an inactive window on a mac, the click is eaten, and you have to click a second time to actually do what you are trying to do. Same with the menu bar, first you have to activate the app, then you can click a second time on the menu bar. I do not like it.

sevg 2y ago
100% agree. Not having those menu buttons visible until you focus means an extra click (and you can't even see what the menu headings are for that app until you click, so it also delays your thought process). Ok so you get more screen space I guess, but IMO it's not worth the trade off.
allenbrunson 2y ago
having one menu bar at the top of the screen made sense when macs had nine-inch screens. it saved some screen real estate, which was at a premium at the time. but the bigger the screens get, the less sense this makes. apple should have switched to menu bars in each app when they introduced mac os x. we were all forced to make so many changes at the time, one more wouldn’t have been a big deal.
draven 2y ago
True. On the other hand I like that the menu is on top on the screen so I can just throw the pointer up (I use a trackball) and it will end up on the menu, no precise targeting required.
jorvi 2y ago
People like the menu bar because of the global menu - no more hunting and pecking for a print or save option, with every application using disparate or bespoke UI kits having those aforementioned options be different places both visually, physically and logically. MacBooks are absurdly overpowered as a layman’s computer, but the global menu means they only need to learn the OS once.
- eviks 2y ago
  How do you "learn it once" if the dev can put "print" option anywhere using UI kit?
  - piva00 2y ago
    I haven't found any apps on macOS the past 15 years where the "print" option wasn't where it's expected to be, would like an example just for the fun of it.
    - eviks 2y ago
      It doesn't matter, this is not a property of the OS or the menubar location, just an unenforced convention that you can adhere to on Windows as well
      - piva00 2y ago
        Given that the convention seems more often followed on macOS can't it be a property of the environment of macOS developers usually following the conventions better than on Windows? Even if not an inherent property of the system it's an emergent one, something causes it if it's not restricted by the system itself but is still a property that apps developed for macOS are much more homogeneous in their menus UI implementation than the others.
        eviks 2y ago
        If you shroud this basic misunderstanding in so much emergent mystery, sure, but otherwise no, and the real reason is simple enough - that's just one of the defaults in some "UI kits", which macOS devs can also use, including "disparate or bespoke" ones, and could've been just as consistent without it being positioned at the single top spot
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]

by ars 2y ago

sevg 2y ago

100% agree. Not having those menu buttons visible until you focus means an extra click (and you can't even see what the menu headings are for that app until you click, so it also delays your thought process). Ok so you get more screen space I guess, but IMO it's not worth the trade off.

allenbrunson 2y ago

having one menu bar at the top of the screen made sense when macs had nine-inch screens. it saved some screen real estate, which was at a premium at the time. but the bigger the screens get, the less sense this makes. apple should have switched to menu bars in each app when they introduced mac os x. we were all forced to make so many changes at the time, one more wouldn’t have been a big deal.

draven 2y ago

True. On the other hand I like that the menu is on top on the screen so I can just throw the pointer up (I use a trackball) and it will end up on the menu, no precise targeting required.

jorvi 2y ago

People like the menu bar because of the global menu - no more hunting and pecking for a print or save option, with every application using disparate or bespoke UI kits having those aforementioned options be different places both visually, physically and logically. MacBooks are absurdly overpowered as a layman’s computer, but the global menu means they only need to learn the OS once.

eviks 2y ago
How do you "learn it once" if the dev can put "print" option anywhere using UI kit?
- piva00 2y ago
  I haven't found any apps on macOS the past 15 years where the "print" option wasn't where it's expected to be, would like an example just for the fun of it.
  - eviks 2y ago
    It doesn't matter, this is not a property of the OS or the menubar location, just an unenforced convention that you can adhere to on Windows as well
    - piva00 2y ago
      Given that the convention seems more often followed on macOS can't it be a property of the environment of macOS developers usually following the conventions better than on Windows? Even if not an inherent property of the system it's an emergent one, something causes it if it's not restricted by the system itself but is still a property that apps developed for macOS are much more homogeneous in their menus UI implementation than the others.
      - eviks 2y ago
        If you shroud this basic misunderstanding in so much emergent mystery, sure, but otherwise no, and the real reason is simple enough - that's just one of the defaults in some "UI kits", which macOS devs can also use, including "disparate or bespoke" ones, and could've been just as consistent without it being positioned at the single top spot
        deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]