Floating palette

A floating palette is a window-like user interface element that "floats" in front of windows of files or documents being edited by a user. They typically contain a variety of tools or settings.

Types

 * Inspector: A palette in which the displayed information changes based on the user's selection of elements in a document.
 * Navigator: A palette in which shows a thumbnail of the entire document of which only part may be displayed in the main window.

History
MacPaint 2.0 is an early example of a Macintosh application that used floating palettes, which could be "torn off" from the menu bar.