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typically sit at the top of the screen, and could be accessed by pressing the right mouse button, revealing the names of the various menus. When the right menu button was not pressed down, the menu/title bar would typically display the name of the program which owned the screen, and some other information such as the amount of memory used. When accessing menus with right mouse buttons pressed, one could select multiple menu entries by clicking the left mouse button, and when right mouse button was released, all actions selected in the menus would be performed in the order they were selected. This was known as multiselect.
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506:", by default at the top left of the screen. Clicking on the entries in the menu list would display submenus of the commands in the menu. The contents of the menu change depending on whether the user is "in" the Workspace Manager or an application. The menus and the sub-menus can easily be torn off and moved around the screen as individual palette windows.
122:
450:
used a menu-bar style similar to that of the
Macintosh, with the exception that the machine's custom graphics chips allowed each program to have its own "screen", with its own resolution and colour settings, which could be dragged down to reveal the screens of other programs. The title/menu bar would
489:
Keyboard shortcuts could be accessed by pressing the "right Amiga" key along with a normal alphanumeric key. (Some early keyboards had a
Commodore key to the left of the spacebar instead of a "left-Amiga" key.) The filled-in and hollowed-out designs, respectively, of the left- and right-Amiga (or
525:
The TOS operating system for the Atari ST would display menu bars at the top of the screen like Mac OS. Rather than being 'pulled-down' by holding the mouse button, the menu would appear as soon as the pointer was over its heading. This was done to get around an Apple patent on pull-down menus.
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This assumes that the desired menu is currently enabled, however. If another application has "focus", the menu will belong to that application instead, requiring the user to check and see which menu is active before "throwing" the mouse, and often perform an extra step of focusing the desired
292:
There is only one menu bar, so the application menus displayed are those of the application that is currently focused. Therefore, for example, if the System
Preferences application is focused, its menus are in the menu bar, and if the user clicks on the Desktop which is a part of the Finder
589:
curves, especially due to the time required to travel back to a target in the window after using the menu. On systems with multiple displays, the menu bar may either be displayed on a single "main" display, or on all connected displays. The classic Mac OS, and versions of macOS prior to
398:
from version 11.04 through 17.04 uses a
Macintosh-style menu bar; however, it is hidden unless the mouse pointer hovers over it, similar to the Amiga interface. Starting with 17.10, it defaults to the GNOME desktop environment, using its menu bar.
285:(versions 7 through 9), the right side contains the application menu, allowing the user to switch between open applications. In Mac OS 8.5 and later, the menu can be dragged downwards, which would cause it to be represented on screen as a floating
581:: because the menu bar lies on a screen edge, it effectively has an infinite height — Mac users can just "throw" their mouse pointers toward the top of the screen with the assurance that it will never overshoot the menu bar and disappear.
261:, the left side contains the Apple menu, the Application menu (its name will match the name of the current application) and the currently focused application's menus (e.g. File, Edit, View, Window, Help). On the right side, it contains
441:
The menu bar of AmigaOS 3.1 in its opened state. Holding the right mouse button down opens the menus in the menu bar, and releasing the button over a menu item selects that item. Each application can have its own separate
462:. An unusual feature of the Amiga menu system was that the Workbench screen would display a "Workbench" menu instead of a "File" or "Apple" menu, while conforming applications would display "Project" and "Tools" menus (
389:
desktop uses a menu bar at the top of the screen, but this menu bar only contains
Applications and System menus and status information (such as the time of day); individual programs have their own menu bars as well. The
613:
4 in
Windows and Linux, have effectively removed the menu bar altogether by hiding it until a key is pressed (typically the "alt" key). These applications present options to the user contextually, typically using
542:
of other systems, except that menus will not close if the right mouse button is used to select a menu entry. This allows the user to implement or try out several settings before closing the menu.
509:
Power users would often switch off the always-on menu, leaving it to be displayed at the mouse pointer's location when the right mouse button was pressed. The same implementation is used by
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project initially used multiple menu bars anchored to the bottom of windows, but this was quickly dropped in favor of the current arrangement, as it proved slower to use (in accordance with
585:
application before using the menu, which is completely separate from the application it controls. The effectiveness of this technique is also reduced on larger screens or with low
433:
The menu bar of AmigaOS 3.1 in its default state, showing the screen title. Shown here is the
Workbench screen, which displays system information in its title.
339:
and the mnemonic letter that appears underlined in the menu title. Additionally, pressing Alt or F10 brings the focus on the first menu of the menu bar.
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In both
Windows and Macintosh operating systems, in other similar desktop environments and in some applications, common functions are assigned
538:, clicking the middle button displays a menu list at the location of the mouse pointer. The RISC OS implementation of menus is similar to the
421:
Window manager menus in Linux are typically configurable by editing text files or using a desktop-environment-specific
Control Panel applet.
335:; therefore, there can be many menu bars on screen at one time. Menus in the menu bar can be accessed through shortcuts involving the
1247:
630:– the standard that defined several aspects of menu layout commonly used by Windows and several Linux desktop environments today.
277:
left or right. If an icon is dragged and dropped vertically it will disappear with a puff of smoke, much like the icons in the
696:
834:
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156:, interacting with an application, or displaying help documentation or manuals. Menu bars are typically present in
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displayed only a single menu bar on the main display; Mavericks added the option to show the bar on all displays.
565:
Microsoft-style bars are physically located in the same window as the content they are associated with. However,
410:
use a similar scheme, where programs have their own menus, but clicking one or more of the mouse buttons on the
68:
574:
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184:
Through the evolution of user interfaces, the menu bar has been implemented in different ways by different
75:
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265:(for example the system clock, volume control, and the Fast user switching menu (if enabled) and the
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The
Workbench screen title bar would typically display the Workbench version and the amount of free
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professional, claims that the Mac OS's menu bars can be accessed up to five times faster due to
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and conforming apps, though applications written for the host operating system or another
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Even before the advent of the Macintosh, the universal graphical menu bar appeared in the
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brings up a menu containing, for example, commands to launch various applications or to
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Commodore and Amiga) keys are similar to the closed-Apple and open-Apple keys of later
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since the first Macintosh was released in 1984, and is still used today in macOS.
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Use a Right-Amiga combination as the default keyboard shortcut for a menu item.
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The menu bar in Windows is usually anchored to the top of a window under the
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153:
726:
Workbench Nostalgia: The history of the AmigaOS Graphic User Interface (GUI)
697:"Ubuntu 17.10 releases with GNOME, Kubernetes 1.8 & minimal base images"
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allow users to turn Macintosh-style and Windows-style menu bars on and off.
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being, respectively, the Amiga terms for what in other systems are called
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683:"Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting"
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where drop-down menu is activated with a shortcut or combination key.
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The menu bar's purpose is to supply a common housing for window- or
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152:-specific menus which provide access to such functions as opening
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application, the menu bar will then display the Finder menus.
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will use the menu scheme appropriate to that OS or toolkit.
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The NeXTstep OS for the NeXT machines would display a "menu
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icon. All of these menu extras can be moved horizontally by
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is a horizontal "bar" anchored to the top of the screen. In
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that display documents and representations of files in
319:
in 1983. It has been a feature of all versions of the
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
758:. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. p. 147.
803:"'Re: PROPOSAL: "Mac" menubar as default' - MARC"
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308:and is the default representation in most Linux
842:
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382:can have both types in use at the same time.
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636:– where a pop-up menu is beneath a button.
1248:List of graphical user interface elements
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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296:Apple experiments in GUI design for the
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367:3.5 configured with a single menu bar
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
18:
13:
719:
562:-C copies the current selection).
179:
14:
1315:
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168:but menus can be used as well in
755:Amiga User Interface Style Guide
23:
34:needs additional citations for
795:
781:
689:
675:
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355:3.5 showing multiple menu bars
172:programs like text editors or
1:
746:Commodore-Amiga, Incorporated
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995:Head-up display in computing
520:
191:
7:
621:
497:
394:desktop shell shipped with
251:Macintosh operating systems
10:
1320:
1304:Graphical control elements
844:Graphical control elements
575:Human–computer interaction
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195:
188:and application programs.
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158:graphical user interfaces
139:graphical control element
16:Graphical control element
597:Some applications, e.g.
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1283:Zoomable user interface
1088:Client-side decoration
628:IBM Common User Access
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170:command-line interface
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1166:Breadcrumb navigation
569:, former employee of
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605:7 (by default), and
408:desktop environments
310:desktop environments
43:improve this article
791:. 17 November 2012.
720:Donner, Gregory S.
618:to select actions.
129:, showing a submenu
1025:Progress indicator
1000:HUD in video games
587:mouse acceleration
552:keyboard shortcuts
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1138:Window decoration
1093:Disclosure widget
897:Data input-output
858:Adjustment handle
659:"Busy Being Born"
603:Internet Explorer
220:macOS High Sierra
166:windowing systems
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118:
111:
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1236:Related concepts
1217:Inspector window
1202:Alert dialog box
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1098:Frame / Fieldset
878:Hamburger button
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599:Microsoft Office
567:Bruce Tognazzini
232:Mac OS X Leopard
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655:Hertzfeld, Andy
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611:Mozilla Firefox
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404:window managers
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186:user interfaces
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180:Implementations
143:drop-down menus
141:which contains
127:Mozilla Firefox
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1273:Widget toolkit
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1253:Layout manager
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1227:Palette window
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1176:Navigation bar
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1020:Loading screen
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873:Drop-down list
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750:"The Keyboard"
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592:OS X Mavericks
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363:Screenshot of
351:Screenshot of
344:
343:Linux and UNIX
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321:Classic Mac OS
283:Classic Mac OS
273:-clicking and
242:Menu bar from
230:Menu bar from
218:Menu bar from
206:Menu bar from
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99:September 2021
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1258:Look and feel
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1035:Splash screen
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983:Informational
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934:Toggle switch
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851:Command input
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765:0-201-57757-7
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722:"Release 3.0"
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607:Google Chrome
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540:context menus
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385:The standard
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208:macOS Big Sur
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174:file managers
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60: –
59:
55:
54:Find sources:
48:
44:
38:
37:
32:This article
30:
26:
21:
20:
1222:Modal window
1154:Navigational
1102:
1030:Progress bar
990:Balloon help
949:Radio button
944:List builder
919:Cycle button
909:Color picker
868:Context menu
797:
783:
775:
769:. Retrieved
754:
740:
729:. Retrieved
725:
715:
704:. Retrieved
700:
691:
677:
666:. Retrieved
663:Folklore.org
662:
649:
596:
583:
564:
549:
533:
524:
508:
501:
488:
484:applications
483:
479:
475:
471:
467:
463:
453:
445:
420:
401:
396:Ubuntu Linux
384:
370:
330:
314:
295:
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244:Mac OS 9.0.4
183:
147:
134:
132:
125:Menu bar of
105:
96:
86:
79:
72:
65:
53:
41:Please help
36:verification
33:
1243:File viewer
1212:File dialog
1161:Address bar
924:Date picker
789:"About Tog"
634:Menu button
579:Fitts's law
546:Ease-of-use
494:keyboards.
412:root window
302:Fitts's law
263:menu extras
150:application
1207:Dialog box
1071:Containers
1052:Status bar
959:Search box
771:2016-03-01
731:2016-03-01
706:2020-12-18
668:2023-10-15
641:References
616:hyperlinks
571:Apple Inc.
317:Apple Lisa
222:(v10.13.6)
198:Apple menu
196:See also:
69:newspapers
58:"Menu bar"
1268:Scrolling
1263:Mouseover
1171:Hyperlink
1145:Workspace
1083:Tree view
1078:Accordion
954:Scrollbar
929:Grid view
914:Combo box
521:Atari TOS
476:documents
333:title bar
281:. In the
267:Spotlight
192:Macintosh
1298:Category
1191:Special
1103:Menu bar
1040:Throbber
974:Text box
939:List box
904:Checkbox
888:Pie menu
748:(1991).
622:See also
498:NeXTstep
492:Apple II
480:programs
464:projects
460:Fast RAM
456:Chip RAM
275:dragging
255:menu bar
135:menu bar
1193:windows
1128:Toolbar
1113:Popover
1062:Tooltip
1047:Sidebar
1010:Infobar
969:Spinner
560:Command
556:Control
536:RISC OS
530:RISC OS
515:toolkit
511:GNUstep
504:palette
416:log out
337:Alt key
327:Windows
306:Windows
287:palette
271:command
249:In the
234:(v10.5)
210:(v11.7)
162:windows
83:scholar
1133:Window
1118:Ribbon
964:Slider
863:Button
762:
701:Ubuntu
601:2007,
558:-C or
554:(e.g.
478:, and
442:menus.
402:Other
253:, the
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
1108:Panel
1057:Toast
1015:Label
472:files
468:tools
448:Amiga
425:Amiga
392:Unity
387:GNOME
376:GNOME
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609:and
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466:and
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446:The
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1123:Tab
534:In
486:).
482:or
474:or
380:KDE
372:KDE
365:KDE
353:KDE
45:by
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