System menus

[Mark Waddingham]

> It may be worth noting that there is no sanctioned API for that, as  
> Apple considers those menus to be exclusively for their own use:
>
>     Reserved for use by Apple, the right side of the menu bar
>     may contain items that provide feedback on and access to
>     certain hardware or network settings.
> <http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/ 
> OSXHIGuidelines/XHIGMenus/chapter_16_section_4.html>
>
> Third-party programs which make such menus for themselves do so by  
> violating Apple's design mandate and effectively "hacking" the system.

I think the term 'hacking' used in this context is a little strong.  
Apple have noted that the use of these status items (and the relevant  
APIs) is reserved - but then point out why: they are the first things  
that get 'hidden' when the applications menus are too long to fit on  
a user's screen.

Indeed, if one looks at the status bar items Apple itself installs,  
they are all 'for convenience' - either they display non-critical  
information, or their behaviours are available through other means.  
Reading between the lines, I'm guessing they don't mind too much if  
third-parties install them too, its just they don't want to see a  
whole army of utilities that rely on them exclusively.

In regards to dock menus then - yes - useful things those and its  
nice how they correlate (to some extent) with task-bar icons with  
menus on Windows...

Warmest Regards,

Mark.

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  Mark Waddingham ~ 36degrees at runrev.com ~ http://www.runrev.com
        Runtime Revolution ~ User-Centric Development Tools