| > Mac & Windows did away with always-visible menu bars just fine. is this sarcasm? it appears disjointed from your comment and disagrees with your thesis. > Remember how Windows 8 tried to hide the start menu and how it had turned into the worst UX experience in the last decade ever. part of that is surely that trigger start in windows 8/8.1 closed (hid/whatever) you were working on before, forcing an unnecessary context switch. i can't print or save documents in office anymore for the same reason - if you choose “File”, it closes your current file. note that mac os, windows, and to a much greater extent iOS and Android have abandoned the visibility principle. having a dedicated button vs a “force click” feature? i'd prefer the button. your objections to dnd depend on it not being well implemented. but when it's core, it is well implemented. i use dnd, even sometimes to copy/paste on windows. ° "Drag & drop to open" has other issues too. For one, there is no orthogonality between open & close. Do I drag away the icon to close the file or is there a standalone "close" option without an open? i don't understand your objection here. is there orthoganality between open/close on other systems? i have never thought so. i close by clicking x (windows, gnome) or just going back home (android). but i open by doubling click the file (linux) or doing something ad hoc (windows, android) |
Not sure how it contradicts with my points. Can you clarify?
> is there orthoganality between open/close on other systems? i have never thought so.
Yes, there is always a "Close" menu option right in the same menu with the "Open". The close "X" is for closing windows, not opening them, and it also has orthogonality. You open the window by clicking on an icon, and you close it by clicking on another icon.
Going back isn't "closing" on Android. It's just the opposite of navigating forward which also makes sense in a navigational context.