  As a person interested in software development, particularly on a UI level, I am amazed at the prevalence of one of the most useless and meaningless combinations in software. The menu bar of: File Edit View This appears on all versions of Windows, Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, Linux (KDE), and others. It is unfortunate that this menu bar has moved it's way on to other software packages to the point that even Apple, whose UI people are use to thinking "how should we do this" not "how would everyone else do it" has fallen in to the trap of putting this awkward combination everywhere in their software. To point: Safari Web browsers are by definition not a file browsing, file opening, file editing application. Most people would agree that you do need to cut and paste data in to forms or out of text, but anyone that does not use the mouse to do this would probably not go to "edit" either believing that is simply for "editing" the page. Remember, power users use the mouse and know how to do this, novices would take menus at face value. Also, view is interesting in that almost all web browses are used to view something. The idea of a "view" menu item to "view" full screen or change the text size doesn't occur to novices.
This was also awkwardly assigned. Adding insult to injury is that Apple is smart enough to add a default menu item right next to the Blue Apple , namely the application name itself. This makes complete sense, as most people would understand that this is indeed the application they are using and would go there first to find any and all information about how to use the application.
Apple has taken great care in setting an example that this is where preferences, updates, and the "about" goes, freeing Mac users from at least one more menu item.. "Preferences" or "options" or "tools" or whatever else Windows or Linux developers wish to call it. In reality the menu items after those three are usually the useful ones: History, Bookmarks... oh wait, here we go again... the final two menu items are the "book ends" of every app Window & Help Window is about as useless as they come. Even those who may debate the need for a File or Edit would agree that unless you happen to be without a mouse and arrow keys, the Window menu item is useless beyond measure. In most applications, it gives you the "move, minimize, bring all to front" options. This effectively splits the options that so appropriately go on the window itself. For instance, in all OSes the close, minimize, and maximize buttons are together. However in the menu bar this is split between File and Window.
Most novice users would expect these to be together somewhere. They are not. In Windows it was useful to select other "windows" that belong to the application.. But with the folding of windows on top of each other in the menu bar area of Windows XP, and the Mac Expose innovation, this funtionality is vestigial at best. This isn't nearly as bad as some software applications. The odd names and lingo they choose is almost as deceitful as reading "The Meaning of Truth" in the original German. The words are hard only so that the words are hard.. hence lending credence to the "professionalism" of the application.
Case in point: The small boxes on the right that most high end apps (Macromedia, Adobe, ect. ) use. This trend is duplicated everywhere but Microsoft. These boxes hold useful information such as layer info, css linfo, history, files, you name it. Everything you would want at your finger tips. "Windlets" lets call them. Great name! Maybe a tool tip "The small windows". Easy. They pop up when you load the application the first time... you know what they are. What do the applications call them?
"Panels"... Where are these panels loaded? Under the menu item "Windows". If a user oops and closes a panel... is there a panel menu item the panicking user can go to? Nope... it's under "Windows". A bucket for any liquid, File Edit View Window Help are unfortunate hindrances to good UI design, and should be eliminated and replaced with real descriptive terms. If you can't figure out a good one word description for your menu, it shouldn't be in your menu or you shouldn't be making UIs. My suggestion for Safari: Safari = Safari File = Sites Edit = Text (or Select) View = Display History = History Bookmarks = Bookmarks (although in Safari it's just Add or Show, this could be done away with too) Window = (delete it, redundant x 4) Help = Help See how this makes sense? Anyone who has a mother or father who ask you "How do I make it full screen? " or "How do I copy this text" would easily find an easier answer using these menu items. Even "How do I open a site" would make sense. Even these menu items aren't necessary, but as much as I would love to do away with menu items that aren't essential, that isn't possible, yet.
So why are we in this File, Edit, View world? Microsoft Word, and WordPerfect. It made perfect sense that since so many people are use to the menu at the top of these apps, making the same menu for Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Outlook Express, and the rest would add to comfort. It does not. It's just lazy. Like wearing a tie just because it looks like your boss's tie, it is assumed the application must be good and functional if it has "File, Edit, View" in the menu... even if in Visual Basic it puts these menu items in the application automatically.
At The Planning Studio we focus on some UI design in dealing with web based applications. Something like the iPod and it's task based UI inspires us. We always strive to customize the view of the user to the credentials of the user... (i.e. no one not in Human Resources has a payroll update menu item in their application). This increases productivity drastically, and also allows the user to feel more at home knowing that their "guess" at what a menu items means is probably right since it's there profession or task the application is built for.
We purposely use the paradigm of "active workflow adaption" to know exactly where a user is in a workflow, what they need, and only what they need. Lest you think this is like being trapped in a wizard with no back button, I can assure you the adaption is of a much higher level than that. Even now, the most requested funtion in Outlook, Pocket PCs, Palms, and others is "active adaption"... people want to switch between their "personal" notes, calendar, tasks, and their "work" items. In innovative UI thinking, this makes sense, but is a long way off from larger software companies thought processes.
One of our selling points is demoing the software and the workflow process showing how the application changes depending on what they are doing, anticipating the UI necessary for their work. People are amazed. When they need to create a new form.. they never think "File, New, Forms, HR Form"... instead they go to "HR", "Forms", and then they expect to create a form there, or look one up, or edit one, or delete one.
If they only work or approve forms, they don't want to see or expect to see a "create form" anywhere. They don't. Changing the way users interact with their computers will be the biggest change in the coming years, from Longhorn's rumored 3D browsing of files based on relationships to OSX's Finder and metadata enhancements. Voice commands are still way off and silly anyway except for Google like reference searching. "What time does this movie start? " is possible, but "Open new broswer, go to w w w dot b r u c e.." is not even remotely productive or useful. Somehow though, I imagine even when we're zooming through relational files in 3D, omnipresent at the top will be "File, Edit, View, Window". What a shame. 
