[no subject]

> The second is more on the Fitts law aspect (at least as Michael Hirsch has
> explained it to me), and has to do with the idea that items on the edges of
> the interface area are infinite in size; once the pointer hits the edge it
> can't go any further, even if you continue roll the mouse in that edge
> direction forever. Any interface targets at the far edges are, in effect,
> the biggest possible targets and the easiest to hit.  I would add that the
> top edge is probably the most logical for text menu items, because all
> common written languages read top to bottom, even those that may also read
> right to left.

Just for giggles I tried putting the menubar on the left edge yesterday.  It 
didn't really work.  But I think the bottom edge would work fine.  Of course, 
I agree with you that the top makes more sense

> When not 
> accessing menus, the menu strip space at the top of the screen is available
> to show anything the programmer chooses, like left clickable icon tools, or
> various status info items ( e.g., Deluxe Paint uses the space to display
> things like x-y pointer coordinates and drawing mode indicators, all of 
> which can be toggled off for full screen image display).

Yes, I've always liked that on MacOS X.  Because menu bars don't tend to 
stretch all the way across the screen, you can put neat little tools in the 
menubar for free (i.e. no lost useful desktop space.  In my KDE menu bar I 
now have a clock, wether report, logout, lock screen, mail watcher, kwallet 
(password keeper), kopete (IM client), volume, OOo, clipboard, xeyes, and CPU 
monitor.  If I used them I have plenty of room for dictionary lookup, google 
search, sticky notes, and more.

I used to keep most of that stuff down on the bottom panel (kicker), and since 
moving them I have more space to render my list of open windows which is very 
nice.

Michael


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