Apple Menu

The Apple menu has been a feature in Apple's Mac OS since its inception. It is the first drop-down item on the left hand side of the menu bar. The Apple menu's role has changed throughout the release history of Mac OS, but the menu has always featured a version of the Apple logo.

In System 6.0.8 and earlier, the Apple menu featured a Control Panel manager, as well as Desk Accessories such as a Calculator, the Scrapbook and Alarm Clock. If MultiFinder (an early implementation of computer multitasking) was active, the Apple menu also allowed the user to switch between multiple running applications. The Macintosh user could add third-party Desk Accessories via the System Utility "Font/DA Mover". However, there was a limitation on the number of Desk Accessories that could be displayed in the Apple menu. Third-party shareware packages such as OtherMenu added a second customizable menu (without the trademarked Apple logo) that allowed users to install Desk Accessories beyond Apple's limitations.

System 7.0 introduced the Apple Menu Items folder in the System Folder. This allowed users to place Alias(es) to their favorite software and documents in the menu. The Menu Manager forced these additions into alphabetical order, which prompted users to rename their aliases with leading spaces, numbers and other characters in order to get them into the order that suited them the best. Several third-party utilities provided a level of customization of the order of the items added to the Apple menu without having to rename each item. The Apple menu also featured a Shut Down command, implemented by a Desk Accessory. An alias to the Control Panels folder was also present. System 7.0 was also the first version to feature the rainbow striped logo, as opposed to the black logo found in previous versions. In System 7.0, the black logo was retained in grayscale modes, and was used when the Monitors control panel was set to display "Thousands" or "Millions" of grays, though the rest of the display was in color.

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