This is an area that I feel Ubuntu MATE needs to be more innovative and I am glad to hear that @Wimpy is thinking about an alternative menu. I usually have the Advanced Menu enabled as I don't like the default trio of Applications/Places/System very much (but I also know that the AM has not received as much care in this release and in general looks rather boring, even in its most polished form in Linux Mint MATE). Why not offer something more radical as the default menu in UM 18.04 (probably not 16.10) which has a more modern look without compromises on functionality? How about a design contest for a new default menu? How suitable is the Panther Launcher project mentioned some time ago? I really hope that the menu design (including a bit more theme polishing - perhaps similar to Mint-Y) is one of the next big projects to rival the already brilliant Software Boutique. I think UM needs a new default menu, not more tweak options.