Headerbars VS Menubars : 2 different, flawed solutions
1,100While I was using Linux Mint, I encountered something I wasn't accustomed to anymore: menubars. This made me think about the menubar concept, versus the headerbar that have been the staple feature of GNOME apps, and elementary OS applications. Here are a few reflexions.
Another point of view on the matter: https://pointieststick.com/2018/12/18/on-headerbars/
Menubars
Menubars have been around for as long as graphical programs existed. They allow you to display many options and features in a relatively small space, and have been around for long enough that any user should be able to use them without too much hassle. Drawbacks include bad legibility, with every menu item being given the same space and importance, total inadequacy for tactile use, and, in my opinion, bad aesthetics. Windows also occupy more space, with a title bar, a menu bar, and a toolbar occupying some precious vertical real estate.
Headerbars
This concept started really appearing in the linux world with GNOME 3. GNOME 3 apps did away with menus, and stacked all the features in the window's titlebar: this saves space, and, in my opinion, looks better as well. The advantage is that you get an overview of all features right from the app's window, without digging into menus and submenus, and any excess feature can be tucked in an overflow menu as well. This is also more touch friendly. The main drawback is the density of features: you simply can't fit as many options in a toolbar as in a menubar. Everything in excess must be added in an app menu, which kinda defeats the purpose of the headerbar.
What of other OSes ?
Outside of the Linux world, there are two main approaches: Windows is in the process of getting rid of menubars entirely, replacing it with ribbon interfaces, burger menus, and other interface tricks. Older windows apps still display menubars, but native, Microsoft apps don't use them anymore, apart from a few exceptions that have not been updated. They still maintain a titlebar for most applications.
Mac OS, on the other hand, is using headerbars more and more in its apps, but still maintains the global menubar as well. This is a weird approach, with app windows using less vertical space, but the global menubar reclaiming it anyway, but it allows apps to have a simple, legible interface, and still retain a lot of feature accessibility for more advanced users.
In the end, there is no unique solution: each approach has its detractors and supporters, and none will please everyone. I personnally feel that the Mac OS way is the most complete: headerbars combined with a global menubar that allows you to access more dvanced features when you need them. This doesn't solve touch / mobile use, but let's be honest: the features tucked away in the menus are not the ones you'll use primarily when using an app on a touchscreen or mobile device. I liked GNOME's appmenus, which kinda did the same thing, with the app's name being clickable and revealing a menu with sub-menus and options. It wasn't very discoverable, but it did the job pretty well.
Ribbon interfaces also are a good way to optimize space usage: since toolbars are separated into tabs, you can quickly get to any feature you need. It does require you to know in which tab the feature you're looking for is located, and find its icon / button in the midst of other options, so legibility is a little worse than a traditionnal menu, since ribbon are more cluttered, but it's a good compromise, that LibreOffice, for example, is implementing.
In the end, I feel the solutions we have today on Linux are flawed: GNOME apps lack features and space to put them, KDE apps have too many menus and options, and while they can support a global menu, they still retain titlebars and toolbars, and as such, don't really optimize space use. My preference still goes to headerbars, mainly for aesthetic reasons, and because I like my apps to do one thing well and not be jacks of all trades, but my system can be quite the incoherent mess.
While I don't really mind, since I'm used to switching between Mac OS, Windows, and different Linux distributions, for any newcomer to Linux, this doesn't make the platform look like a coherent, cohesive system.
While no solution will please everyone, I feel we need to settle on a solution more space efficient than window-based menubars, and more powerful than headerbars.
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Also Watch my Experience with Manjaro Budgie on a Full AMD Linux Build:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZdj4Q08fBg
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