[mttjj]

But isn’t the second half of the article the author pointing out a bunch of menu examples from macOS Tahoe where some items have icons and others don’t and still coming to the conclusion that it’s confusing? How is that not a contradiction of the prior declaration?

[layer8]

Yeah, that's a bit inconsistent. I think they are criticizing that it appears to be random which menu items have icons assigned, instead of (for example) giving all important or frequently used items an icon, or in some way that creates visual structure in the menu. Personally, what I find the most disconcerting in those examples is that the menu items aren't consistently inset.

Here is what I would think is a fairly good use of icons: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/uxguide/imag... The icons are positioned such that they introduce groups of menu items, and they create a visual structure that one learns to recognize with repeated use.