How to remove standard menu and add custom menus?

I created a MAX application that includes a custom menubar to allow DSP Status and Audiotester and it works well.

However, users of the app continually complain about File->New/Open/Close/Save, etc,, Edit->/// Window->/// - because all of the standard menu items do anything in this app (they serve no purpose in this app other than to confuse users).

All of the max tutorials, help, and support suggest that I should use “;max hidemenubar” to get rid of the standard menus and then use UI objects to create a custom menu.

Problem 1 – “;max hidemenubar” does not remove the menubar – in fact it turns on MaxMenus, so now the app has even more confusion for users.

I completely bypassed the previous menubar setup and replaced it with “;max hidemenubar” and it does not work.

I created a simple test app with nothing but “;max hidemenubar” and it does not work.

Windows XP dev platform using MAX 5.1.8. ~95% of users are on PC.

When using the “;max hidemenubar” on Mac OS there’s another problem. It hides the standard App menus, but also the entire OS menus and dashboard are gone.

Problem 2 – finding the proper UI object (assuming there is a way to get hidemenubar to work on PC)
–    could anyone suggest the proper UI object to help in this case?

My project only needs the following:

File->Exit
Settings->DSP
Settings->Audiotester
Help->About MyApp

If it is not possible to get this functionality working similarly on both PC and Mac, it would it would be very valuable to know.

Last question 3: if I am stuck with all of these menu items, is there a consistent means to override Max behavior?

Your guidance is greatly appreciated!