Almost all of the tools and settings you will needs to use in Maya are located in the menus and shelves, and this post will help you to understand where to find the tools you need.
All of the following sections go over the options available in the Maya interface. There are many different ways to access the same settings and tools, and it is up to personal preference which ones you use.
The Menus
The menus are the drop downs located at the very top of the Maya window. There's an overwhelming number of them, but if you understand how they're organized, you'll be able to find everything you need.
First of all, there's actually more drop down options available than are visible at any one time. This is because they're organized based on subject. You can change which set of menus you're viewing using the option box right below the menus, which includes Modeling, Rigging, Animation, FX, and Rendering. (NOTE: The names of these sections may vary depending on which version of Maya you're using.)
However, the File, Edit, Create, Select, Modify, Display, and Windows drop downs are always visible, regardless of which section you're viewing.
Hotbox
You can also access everything from the menus using the hotbox. To access the hotbox, make sure your cursor is hovering over the viewport and press and hold the space bar. While still holding the space bar, you can left click and hold on any of the options to access the sub options. Then, while still clicking and holding and holding the space bar, you can drag your cursor to any of the sub menus to choose the option you need.
Status Line
The status line is located right below the menus and has a variety of settings that you can use for saving files, changing selection modes, snapping pivots, rendering images, as well as other functions. We won't be going over them in detail, since it delves much deeper into the Maya interface, but depending on what you're using Maya for, you may need these settings in the future.
Shelves
The shelves are right below the status line and contain shortcuts to all of the same tools you will find in the menus. It's just another way to access the same settings, and you can choose your preferred method. Personally, I like using the shelves, since your tools are immediately visible, and you don't have to navigate through menus to find them. The most common tools are already available in these shelves, but you can also create custom shelves for yourself.
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