Future of the Computer User Interface (opens in new tab)

I think Microsoft's ill-fated experiment with menu bars that automatically hide what the application doesn't think you're using was an example of how not do do this, and it may have scared everyone else away from the idea in general.

Microsoft's problem was probably the reliance upon this as an easy alternative to actually reducing the number of entries in menus and better grouping of functionality.

Interesting idea, but I can't help but think of how much of a nightmare that would make tech support!

The problem is that if the interface learns and adjusts to you, it prevents you from learning the interface...

It would get annoying as it would start to hide that function you use occasionally.

One of the reasons I would disable those features in windows that would hide functions in the pull down menus.

I don't know, but Vernor Vinge talks about such an interface in his book Rainbows End.