The movement toward hiding or replacing menu bars

glennmagusharvey

I don't like this.  I like to see my File, Tools, Help, and other menus right there at the top of my windows.

Chagen

Because some companies think change for the sake of...change is good.

Komodin

Meh, I don't really mind it too much.

ClockworkUniverse

Same set of logic that made Apple think iTunes would look good with vertical "exit maximize minimize" button arrangement.

Ponicalica

I liked it when Chrome did it, since when browsing the web my primary activity is browsing the web.  With other apps it's more annoying.

DonZabu

Opera did it alright, but Chrome's application of it was terrible.

>Because some companies think change for the sake of...change is good.

I'm no expert, but this stinks of trying-to-look-busy-so-that-you-can-keep-up-with-the-trendy-crowd-and-keep-your-stock-portfolio-alive to me. Or, Ttlbstyckuwttcakyspa (Tittle-buh-sti-ka-witt-ca-kys-pa; say it like some kind of Disney wizard chant).

DYRE

I don't think the File/Edit/View/etc. menu is terribly important on web browsers.  At least not important enough that I have to see it at all times.  On other applications, I like having it, but with web browsers I'd rather just have more space to view web pages.  Though, I don't like the way Firefox 4 or Chrome handles it.  Firefox 3 with the Hide Menubar addon is how I prefer it.  That is, there's no menu at all until you hit Alt, at which point the regular File/Edit/View/etc. menu shows up.  I wish I could do something similar with the Windows taskbar, but... I dunno of any way to do that.

Central Avenue

That is, there's no menu at all until you hit Alt, at which point the regular File/Edit/View/etc. menu shows up.

That's how it works in Firefox 4. (Well, there's the "Firefox" menu, but I tend to ignore that)

DYRE

Firefox 4 has other silliness in the interface that I don't like though...

Ponicalica

I can never remember which menu everything is in, except for a few common ones.

Central Avenue

I have only two major complaints with Firefox 4, only one of which is menu-related: If you have extensions that add items to the "Tools" menu, there's no way to get those menu items without showing the menubar (at least temporarily, as described earlier) and pulling out the Tools menu. An "addons" menu (by itself or as part of the Firefox menu) would be nice.

The other complaint is about the pop-up thing that replaces the status bar. I don't mind that by itself--Chrome's had it that way for years--but if you enable the "add-on bar" to show your extensions' status bar icons, the link URLs and such still appear in a pop-up above that. Why not just have an option to bring back the status bar?

CommandoDude

It's like switching to touch screen.

I DON'T WANT TOUCH SCREEN. STOP CHANGING EVERYTHING I LOVED AND GREW UP WITH.

inkblot

Because minimalism.

Because The Designers Republic.

Because looking "approachable".

FrodoGoofballCoTV

There's a saying among software designers and engineers: "the customer is not you".

When designers have to choose between users who want access to options and users who don't want to know the details, they'll choose the latter every time, unless the software is something only technical users would normally use.  The reasoning is that the both less savvy users and savvy users who aren't technically minded will choose the product that requires the least effort on their part and makes their friends think it's cool even if it isn't, while professionals will choose the product that enables them to charge their customers more for their services, even if it costs more to buy and takes longer to learn.

As a result users from the slightly more advanced amateur to the professional who is not looking for a top of the line product get screwed, but those are less profitable markets, in part because those customers tend to be more frugal.

But yeah, when I first saw Google Chrome had no menus, I was like.  WTF?!?  How the hell do I use this?

glennmagusharvey

> I don't think the File/Edit/View/etc. menu is terribly important on web browsers.

Let's see: List of common things I use the menu bar for:
* Tools -> Add-ons: to change my theme and to disable/enable add-ons
** I have two add-ons that are incompatible with each other, so I just disable one and enable the other temporarily when I need the latter
** I change themes this way.  Including personas, because I don't like the way the add-on works.
* Tools -> Options: to fix my cookies in case I block or allow the wrong one.  I am one of those people who individually controls what cookies my browser saves.
* Tools -> LeechBlock: to use the LeechBlock add-on.
* Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks: I keep a bookmarks toolbar, and when too many bookmarks are in one submenu, I use this tool to reorganize them so they're easier to use and require less scrolling.
* History -> Recently Closed Tabs: the use is obvious.
* History -> Recently Closed Windows: the use is obvious.
* History -> Show All History: Occasionally I want/need to find a page that I saw a week ago.
* View -> Character Encoding: Since I, y'know, actually visit pages in other languages.  And also, some pages in English that have funky encodings, causing apostrophes to look like mojibake.
* View -> Page Source: Sometimes used, though these days I usually just go for Ctrl+U when I need to source-dive...which is actually surprisingly often.
* View -> Full Screen: Occasionally used.  But F11 is a more convenient shortcut.
* File -> New Window: Occasionally used, but I more often use Ctrl+N.
* File -> New Tab: Occasionally used, but I more often use Ctrl+T.
* File -> Work Offline: This is very useful when I need to pull up a cached version of a page.  Especially if I don't have an internet connection, but want to do something to save for sending later.

So yeah, I think it's pretty darn useful.

> There's a saying among software designers and engineers: "the customer is not you".

lol channeling GuitarBizarre

Vorpy

I don't have Firefox 4

Deboss

I just have All In One Sidebar and various buttons that do that for me.