programming-for-dummies

The Evolution of User Interfaces 291
Figure 10-2:
Early user
interfaces
were simple
menus of
keystroke
combinations.
Book II
Chapter 10
Figure 10-3:
Pull-down
menus help
organize
commands
and tuck
them out of
sight until
needed.
Principles of User
Interface Design
The main advantages of pull-down menus are that they hide program commands
until you need them, and you could choose a command from a pulldown
menu by clicking it with the mouse as opposed to typing a cryptic
keystroke command.
Eventually, more programs started using pull-down menus. To make using
different programs even easier, programs started organizing their commands
under identical pull-down menu categories.
For example, the File menu typically lists commands that manipulate your
data, such as Save, Open, or Print a file. The Edit menu typically lists commands
for changing your data, such as Cut, Copy, and Paste. By offering
standard pull-down menus, users could figure out one program and then
quickly adapt to using another program.