Maximizing windows?

I've been a PC user all my life and just bought a 2.66GHz MacBook Pro. It's great so far, but I'm a bit frusterated with the windows. in Microsoft Windows, maximizing a window means that it occupies the whole screen. When I push the green button on my Mac, however, it often just expands the window downards without having it take up the whole screen, which I want it to do. How can I fix this?

Also, I like having previews of which photos are inside a folder, which is available in Windows. Is it possible to get tiny thumbnails appearing on folders to let me know which pictures are inside?

Cheers!

That's how it is on a Mac. Just hide your dock and resize the window if you want "full screen."

There's a free utility you can download called Right Zoom, which will make the green + button maximize your window like it does in Windows. However, I suggest you try too ween yourself off the need to maximize your windows all the time. Part of what makes OS X so great is that it is so easy to multi-task, and maximizing your windows on a screen like that will leave a lot of wasted space.

Just my two cents. Feel free to do what you want with it.

i can totally relate to this. i was super frustrated when i first got my mac, because i always filled up the screen on my 22" LG flatron. however, i have since begun to divide my monitor in half and usually have two or more things going on at a time. i honestly think you will get used to how it works eventually. the good thing is that if you adjust the window to just how you like it, it should always open again in that position. it's just one of those small things that annoy you at first, but you quickly get used to.

good luck and welcome.

Cheers for the advice! I got the Right Zoom ap and everything works fine now.

How about getting thumbnail photos for folders though? Is that possible?

Get Cinch. Move the window to the very top and it will auto maximize. You can do half screen also if move to sides. It's pretty much free but will occasionally pop up donation prompt.

Thrillhouse85 said:

Also, I like having previews of which photos are inside a folder, which is available in Windows. Is it possible to get tiny thumbnails appearing on folders to let me know which pictures are inside?

Click to expand...

Are you using iPhoto? I don't use it much myself, but this is something that Windows does not have. Use your Mac as a Mac. The more you try making it give you exactly the same experience as the Windows you're used to, the more frustrated you'll be. You will have to learn new "tricks" to get the most out of the Mac OS.

If you use iPhoto, you can create photo events that will cycle through all the images contained within them when you scroll over the event folder with the mouse.

Thrillhouse85 said:

Cheers for the advice! I got the Right Zoom ap and everything works fine now.

Click to expand...

Everything worked fine before ! You mean it works more like windows now , and that is not why you switched is it ?

Clay

Thrillhouse85 said:

I've been a PC user all my life and just bought a 2.66GHz MacBook Pro. It's great so far, but I'm a bit frusterated with the windows. in Microsoft Windows, maximizing a window means that it occupies the whole screen. When I push the green button on my Mac, however, it often just expands the window downards without having it take up the whole screen, which I want it to do. How can I fix this?

Also, I like having previews of which photos are inside a folder, which is available in Windows. Is it possible to get tiny thumbnails appearing on folders to let me know which pictures are inside?

Cheers!

Click to expand...

I feel a bit funny saying this, since I was in your exact shoes about two summers ago, and am now on my second MacBook Pro, but... You really should get out of the "Windows" mentality. Reason being, you're only going to continue getting frustrated. And it's not because OS X does things any better or worse than Windows (well, IMO some things a LOT better and others a bit convoluted) but because it's just simply NOT Windows, and for a good reason.

First off, I'd ditch Right Zoom and download Size Up. It's much more useful than its older and no longer published brother Cinch, and it's more useful than Right Zoom. You can maximize, do half screens or do quarter screens. This is particularly useful when examining multiple directories on different levels and transferring files within them.

However, you should not JUST use either of these apps in place of OS X's native organizing features such as Exposé or spaces. They are extremely powerful features which allow a person to become quite efficient in multi-tasking, even if one is a stranger to such a concept. Trust me.

Now, as for photo previews on folders, yes. But you'll have to download Onyx in order to enable the feature in the hidden Finder preferences which Onyx exposes. Basically Onyx references command line executions in a GUI. You'll want to use Onyx aside from that feature, anyway, as it's a great maintenance tool. Use it once a month to "repair permissions" and run basic maintenance scripts. It keeps things running squeaky clean, but please mind your computing habits as well. If you go running around zonky warez or porn sites, downloading stuff that you're not sure is totally safe, that stuff is all on you. And usually those are the things which get most Window's users in general...and why it's so easy to infiltrate a Windows machine (since it's always running as admin).

In any case, here's a shot of what you'll want to change in Onyx: In the Parameters tab, and then the Finder tab within that, you see the part which says miscellaneous options ? I've got the second button clicked. You'll want the third one clicked. That will show you contents of a folder.

Anyway, have fun and an open mind with OS X.

Doug

Clayneal: I'd like to think the differences between Mac and Windows are greater than the fact one opens windows to the screen's capacity. I switched for many reasons, and am not going to give up some long-held preferences because Macintosh suggests I do things otherwise in one particular case.

Doug B: a big thanks for that. I'm not quite sure I followed you completely as I'm not deeply computer-proficient, though I'll investigate the program. Is it like a disk cleanup as well?

One of the reasons I like my windows maximized is because I do a lot of photo editing and I dislike working with a tiny image, or a small image in zoom. I like the photos as large as possible when working with them, regardless of how Mac sets itself up initially.

Just out of curiosity - what happened to Cinch? I could have sworn I just got an update for it a few days ago. It's pretty sweet, use it all the time.

Thrillhouse85 said:

I've been a PC user all my life and just bought a 2.66GHz MacBook Pro. It's great so far, but I'm a bit frusterated with the windows. in Microsoft Windows, maximizing a window means that it occupies the whole screen. When I push the green button on my Mac, however, it often just expands the window downards without having it take up the whole screen, which I want it to do. How can I fix this?

Click to expand...

Since I neglected to answer this question specifically, and no one else has either....

You can't "fix" this because it's not broken. The green button is not an "expand to full screen" button. It is a maximize button in the sense that it expands the window to the full size required by the content of the window. For instance, some web pages, when you stretch them out far enough, will display white space at the sides because there isn't any content there. The green button will not expand the window out that far.

So, the only workaround within the OS is to drag the window to the upper left corner, then resize from the lower right. You'll probably find that tedious, so a third party app may be the way to go for you. That's the great thing about Macs. There's usually somebody who has programed an add-on to do just about anything not incorporated in the OS. And, the great thing about Apple is that they pay attention. Many, but not all of those enhancements become embedded in future OS upgrades.

quin said:

Get Cinch. Move the window to the very top and it will auto maximize. You can do half screen also if move to sides. It's pretty much free but will occasionally pop up donation prompt.

Click to expand...

cwa107 said:

Just out of curiosity - what happened to Cinch? I could have sworn I just got an update for it a few days ago. It's pretty sweet, use it all the time.

Click to expand...

Cinch is awesome! One of my favorite apps.

I might have to give Cinch a try also. Sounds interesting.

cwa107 said:

Just out of curiosity - what happened to Cinch? I could have sworn I just got an update for it a few days ago. It's pretty sweet, use it all the time.

Click to expand...

I could have sworn that on the developers site, it said that development had been abandoned in favor of simply using SizeUp, considering that it does the same thing as Cinch but more. But I was totally wrong I guess, as I just visited said site. Ne'r mind !

Doug B: a big thanks for that. I'm not quite sure I followed you completely as I'm not deeply computer-proficient, though I'll investigate the program. Is it like a disk cleanup as well?

One of the reasons I like my windows maximized is because I do a lot of photo editing and I dislike working with a tiny image, or a small image in zoom. I like the photos as large as possible when working with them, regardless of how Mac sets itself up initially.

Click to expand...

Answer to question 1: It's kind of like disk clean up, yes. But a bit more handy and in depth than that. I'd consider it an essential OS X tool.

question 2: I also do a lot of photo editing, and in either Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop or whatever other editor of choice, should offer a full screen option. I use Lightroom, and it certainly does. And I know that Aperture and PS do as well. Also, if you're doing a lot of photo editing, I hope you're not using anything less than a 19" Monitor.

Doug

Thrillhouse, if you have a window that is filled with content, clicking the green Zoom button WILL maximize that window to reveal everything within it. So if you are working with a big list of photos or text or anything else, your window will resize accordingly. The only time the Zoom button does not maximize to full screen is if the window's content doesn't actually fill the window.

For instance, if you have a web page with text that goes down a long ways but does not reach all the way across the page, clicking the Zoom button will maximize the window as much as it can vertically, but will only expand horizontally enough for you to see the text. In other words, extra blank space is not considered "window content" and so the window will not maximize to include it.

However, some applications might work differently with the Zoom button, and I've noticed that even with RightZoom, some windows don't maximize the way it does in Windows.

Also, keep in mind that if you drag the edge of a window so that it fills the screen, clicking the Zoom button will remember the way you positioned the window and will toggle back and forth between a smaller window and your "custom" maximized one whenever you click it.

toMACsh said:

...edit...

So, the only workaround within the OS is to drag the window to the upper left corner, then resize from the lower right.

Click to expand...

I only had to do this the once. Now my windows go to full screen size as soon as I open browser(s).
Just how I like it, I still prefer the bigger (unnecessary) picture.