Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:13776 comp.windows.misc:243
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!nrl-cmf!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hp-pcd!uoregon!omepd!mipos3!td2cad!cpocd2!howard
From: howard@cpocd2.UUCP (Howard A. Landman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.windows.misc
Subject: Re: Pull down menus.
Message-ID: <1170@cpocd2.UUCP>
Date: 8 Mar 88 23:23:49 GMT
References: <4129@hoptoad.uucp> <283@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu> <1710@ssc-vax.UUCP> <3996@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> <730@nuchat.UUCP> <8332@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU>
Reply-To: howard@cpocd2.UUCP (Howard A. Landman)
Organization: Intel Corp. ASIC Systems Organization, Chandler AZ
Lines: 33

In article <8332@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU> ack@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU (Andy J. Williams) writes:
>I think that
>having a centralized, rarely changing, and standard format and place for
>menus is much easier for the Computer Neophyte to use than having random
>pop up menus all over the place.

Yes, I suppose that's true, but it's irrelevant because no one has proposed
random popup menus.  What everyone *except* *you* is talking about is popup
menus that appear *where* *the* *mouse* *is*.  It's like the difference
between being able to go to the refrigerator to get yourself a drink, and
being able to hold out your hand and have a butler stick a drink in it.
In some systems, the menu even remembers which selection you chose last time
and pops up with that selection directly under the cursor, so if you're doing
the same operation over and over you hardly even need to look at the menu,
merely bring it up and release the mouse button.

>How would a new user who has no idea what is going on feel about buttons
>in random places on the screen, never the same, and try to find the one
>that does what he/she wants?

How should I know, why should I care?  Such a system exists only in your
fevered imagination.  You seem to be saying that a butler moves around and you
never know where he is, but a refrigerator always stays in the same place so
you know where to find it; therefore, a refrigerator provides better drink
service than a butler.

One last advantage of popup menus; they don't burn a negative image into your
screen like menu bars do.  Therefore your display will last longer.

-- 
	Howard A. Landman
	{oliveb,hplabs}!intelca!mipos3!cpocd2!howard
	howard%cpocd2.intel.com@RELAY.CS.NET