My big problem with toolbar buttons is a matter of fundamentals:
- They force the user to move the mouse all the
way over to the button, press it and then move
it all the way back. - The user has to shift their eyes away from the
content of the simulation. - Toolbar button take up screen space that is
better used for a bigger view of the content
of the simulation.
When I watch a expert user of some application with lots of GUI with toolbar buttons, they are energetically swatting at the the computer and darting their eyes all over.
This view point has been reenforced by the feel I get when I use toolbar buttons vs context menu commands.
–Mike
You can observe a lot just by looking.