A tear-off menu allows users to move a menu around the screen like a window. Tear-off menus save desktop space because the user can place them on top of a document or move them to a convenient position. If you implement a tear-off menu rather than a fixed palette in a window, you allow the user to have a larger workspace in document windows.
Users can also choose to leave the menu in the menu bar, or tear it off and close it when necessary.
Tear-off menus give the user more flexibility than fixed palettes do. When the user drags a tear-off menu three pixels away from the menu bar, the menu separates from the menu bar and floats on the desktop. Even after a user tears off a menu, it is still available from the menu bar, however. Figure 4-54 shows the process of tearing off a menu and positioning it on the desktop. The user can choose an item from a tear-off menu simply by pulling down the menu like any other menu, then dragging the pointer to the desired item and releasing the mouse button.