Comment 3 for bug 955193

It's encouraging that restoring the ability for apps to have their commands visible is an option in 12.04, but unless this becomes the default I fear it may not be not enough.

Hiding the menus makes it difficult for new users to know that they're there, and for experienced users it hinders the ability to acquire muscle memory in accessing them because they cannot be aimed for.

I very much appreciate and support the interest in designing a cleaner look, but menus are not noise, they're information. In fact, since they represent the primary means of accessing most applications' features, they're some of the most useful information on the screen.

No matter how good an OS is, ultimately its utility is defined by the scope of applications that run on it. As such, an OS is really just an app launcher; the term "application" itself is a good reminder for all of us, the means by which a user applies computing to their work.

Quick and easy access to applications is a primary goal of an OS, and Unity's Launcher does an excellent job of that.

The second goal of an OS is to stay out of the way and let the application provide quick and easy access to its commands.

Good application designers spend significant time laying out their menu bar. Altering or hiding it frustrates those developers as much as it hampers theirs users.

Frustrated developers are less encouraged to port their applications.

Applications are the features Ubuntu needs more than anything else.

Accessing their commands is central to the utility of an OS.

"...most of our competitors are interesting in doing something different, or want to appear new - I think those are completely the wrong goals. A product has to be genuinely better. This requires real discipline..."
    - Jonathan Ive