The first example was used together with a toolbar. Commands that had buttons on the toolbar also had icons in the menu, so the user could make a connection between the menu and the toolbar.
The second example uses icons merely as a decoration. This is a wrong usage.
Aside from that toolbar example menus normally should not have icons at all. A good use of icons is a list that may have items of different kind, like a list of files that displays a pictogram for each file type or maybe a tiny preview of the file's contents.
The second example uses icons merely as a decoration. This is a wrong usage.
Aside from that toolbar example menus normally should not have icons at all. A good use of icons is a list that may have items of different kind, like a list of files that displays a pictogram for each file type or maybe a tiny preview of the file's contents.