RFR: 8370945: With Windows LAF, the location of a JMenuItem icon is incorrect

[Alexey Ivanov]

On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 07:15:06 GMT, Prasanta Sadhukhan <psadhukhan at openjdk.org> wrote:

> Windows L&F need to do similar to what native application does, if not in pixel-perfect way

We're way far from copying that Windows Explorer Menu to which everyone keeps referring…

The main issue I have with our current design is that it's *too crowded*: adding another column didn't increase the width of the menu. [I raised this concern](https://github.com/openjdk/jdk/pull/23324#discussion_r2175066908) in #23324, and it still persists today.

This is why I think the entire approach has to be re-worked. It'll take a lot of time and effort.

I submitted [JDK-8376828](https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8376828): *Improve JMenuItem layout in Windows L&F* with that in mind.

In #28889, [you said](https://github.com/openjdk/jdk/pull/28889#discussion_r2696785303):

> I am reusing the VistaMenuItemCheckIcon to render the RadioButtonMenuItem and CheckBoxMenuItem icons and *getting rid of the working/treatment made in that class (and rewriting) might result in more regressions which I am avoiding*

(Emphasis is mine.) Yet I don't think the current approach avoids regressions. Each tweak you make breaks something else…

Re-writing is *risky*, but I believe it'll pay off in the long run, with cleaner code that's easier to support.

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PR Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/29730#issuecomment-3945387069