[Jan Van Boghout]

Is there? Think of menu extras (with more possibilities) in a bar that can be showed/hidden/moved?

Just wondering

[CheesePuff]

In Mac OS X 10.0 (and possibly they still worked in Mac OS X 10.1) Apple had little control strip like Dock menus for battery, AirPort, etc. I guess not a lot of people liked them (or it took up Dock space) so they're gone and turned into menu extras.

[Angus_D]

Puff, I think everybody knows about Docklings, and they sucked pretty hard.

Joe Strout wrote a control strip clone for OS X, it never got any support and died a quiet death. It even provided a path for peopple to move their old CSMs to it.

[Jan Van Boghout]

I guess menu extras are the ideal small-global-functionality-thingies, although I think there might still be room for a control strip (if done right).
I don't agree with the statement that Docklings sucked. They didn't, because if they did nobody would like menu extras either. They just took up precious Dock space, which is a big disadvantage menu extras don't have.

[Ron Goodman]

The Dock does just fine for me--I don't need Control Strips, cusomizable Apple menus, or application menus, thank you very much.

[WiseWeasel]

I agree with the other posts; the menu items and dock provide all that sort of functionality I need. There is no need or desire to clutter up my screen with any more controls. The dock does a fine job of replacing the Apple Menu, Application Menu, and some of the Control Strip (like application specific CSMs), and the menu items take care of the rest.

[SupahCoolX]

Like others, I have no need for a "traditional," OS9-style Control Strip because the Dock and Menu extras serve quite well.
Of course, I'm most certainly open to a new, different spin on that old idea, if someone comes up with something good.

[intastella]

Why not just make a collapsable menu extra thumb that would shrink it to the right down to only one icon? Like the one that collapsed the OS 9 application menu to just the icon.

Apple would have to open up the menu extra api so third party menu extras could go in there, but they may not want to do that.

[CheesePuff]

Originally posted by Angus_D:
Puff, I think everybody knows about Docklings, and they sucked pretty hard.

And what about the people who just started using Mac OS X at version 10.2? According to Apple, its about 2.5 million users (that bought a Mac or upgraded an older Mac to OS X 10.2).

[Millennium]

I would suggest trying to revive the OpenStrip project, rather than starting completely over. I mean, it's there, it works, it provides an upgrade path... why not continue it, rather than reinventing the whole wheel?

[absmiths]

I would prefer that Apple just provide a way to collapse the extras in the menu bar when they are not needed.

[invisibleX]

I'd like someone to extend the dock's functionality without adding items to the dock or cluttering the screen. Do that and you'll be the only person to ever extract a shareware fee from my wallet

[Dace]

Originally posted by absmiths:
I would prefer that Apple just provide a way to collapse the extras in the menu bar when they are not needed.

This would be nice. Just like WinXP does. Or the menubar control strip that that expands down to reveal the menu extras

[-Q-]

Originally posted by invisibleX:
I'd like someone to extend the dock's functionality without adding items to the dock or cluttering the screen. Do that and you'll be the only person to ever extract a shareware fee from my wallet

Exactly. If the actions of the Dock could be expanded, then we're talking something interesting. Even something as simple as spring-loaded dock folders would be a big help.

I don't really see the need for the control strip anymore as most of it's features are available elsewhere...

[Nonsuch]

It looks like the nays have it.

Just to give this dead horse another kick, I don't miss the Control Strip at all in Mac OS X. I was never wild about it in Classic, and I think System Menus are a much nicer approach.