Window size help : )

Hi, all

My studio has always been PC based but just recently (2 months ago) we made the move to Apple Macs. Everything so far has been fine but there are some really silly little things that i just haven't managed to figure out.

One of the ones that annoys me the most is when i open up a new window (regardless of application) it doesn't quite fill the screen. I can manually move it over to the left slightly then drag it to fill but it doesn't seem to remember the setting.

Any help or comment would be REALLY appreciated.

noyce said:

Hi, all

My studio has always been PC based but just recently (2 months ago) we made the move to Apple Macs. Everything so far has been fine but there are some really silly little things that i just haven't managed to figure out.

One of the ones that annoys me the most is when i open up a new window (regardless of application) it doesn't quite fill the screen. I can manually move it over to the left slightly then drag it to fill but it doesn't seem to remember the setting.

Any help or comment would be REALLY appreciated.

Click to expand...

Hi,

I just changed from Windows to Mac myself, tho' I spent my first computer years prior to becoming a Windows person, on a Mac.

I'm still missing some features but loving some of the Mac's features!

This link may or may not help:

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:SrBgjonjV6kJ:homepage.mac.com/jonn8/fwm/+setting+the+open+windows+size+in+mac+10.4&hl=en&client=safari

Regards,

Mart

Have you tried pressing the little greenbutton at the top left of the window?
Mybe I'm not 100% sure what you mean.

In the bottom right corner of the window are three hash marks. Drag you window all the way to the upper left corner then go to the bottom right hash and click and drag to your perference. This is not like windows at all as it has a maximize button but here(OSX) the maximize doesn't really "maximize" at all, just makes it a little larger.

One thing I may never understand about Windows users is their obsessive fear that somewhere, at the edge of the window, a few pixels of the desktop might be visible.

If it's that intimidating, set a prettier desktop pattern. Maybe some flowers, or some puffy clouds like Windows, or a female with her legs spread wide. It's just the desktop, it's not going to hurt you.

That's not really helpful technologist...

But I think he has a point:

I often meet switchers (and I was one of them!) who can't stand the fact that they can't maximise their windows, until I point out to them that it isn't really beneficial for most apps anyway.

As soon as you get your head around the mental block windows has programmed into your head - you won't mind as much.

Aptmunich said:

But I think he has a point:

I often meet switchers (and I was one of them!) who can't stand the fact that they can't maximise their windows, until I point out to them that it isn't really beneficial for most apps anyway.

As soon as you get your head around the mental block windows has programmed into your head - you won't mind as much.

Click to expand...

Personally I find that one of the most irritating things about Windoze, when I'm trying to move windows around in a hurry if I hold down the mouse button a fraction too long or double click accidentally the window takes over the entire screen forcing me to have to minimise it (and on a 19 inch screen in 1200x1024 the minimise icon is normally a long way from the present mouse position and really tiny). When you have 50 or so active X windows it can become tiresome really quickly!

Amen-Moses

I agree with Muso. Vote to Impeach, haha. j/k

But yeah the guy didn't say he cared about the reason he just wanted to know how to maximize his window.

What I love about 10.4.2, is that if you only have a small number of open windows and they are all covered over, you can press F9 and the windows are suddenly placed side by side and you can then select which one you would like to bring to the front.

This is a great feature and compliments the control + tab to cycle through open windows shortcut.

"That wasn't really much help technologist!"

I'm not saying it bothers me, but as a newbie to Mac's i want to ensure i'm not missing something obvious, i presumed that was the whole point of these forums?

I'm mainly using lightwave (3D application) and it just seems a little strange that everytime i fire it up i have to drag it from the bottom right to completely fill the screen. It doesn't bother me that it doesn't, i just don't see any advantage to why it shouldn't.

What version of OSX are you running? Your title says 10.0.x

The reason I ask is I am currently on my G3 B&W with 10.3.9 Panther. Every window, like say Safari, that I drag to be edge to edge and then close safari completely, when I re-open it, it opens the same size I dragged it to. Are you using an older version of OSX?

The purpose of "windows" on a computer display is to allow a computer to show more than one thing (application, document, list of files) at a time.

This functionality is lost when any single window takes over the entire screen. It's like going back to the 1980s again: one program at a time.

There are a few situations where an app should take over the screen. Games for one, since you don't want anything to distract from your fragging. Or when editing photos, you should have the ability to display as much of a photo as you can fit. But a 300x300 pixel photo's window shouldn't try to take over an entire 1280x1024 screen.

On the Mac, individual applications have control over their "zoom" behavior (what happens when the green + is clicked.) Most applications behave fairly well...they will fill the screen if-and-only-if the contents are big enough. Some are badly behaved, to the point where they might draw themselves under the Dock or off the edge of the screen.

technologist, Very well said.

Technologist, i understand the purpose of windows but thanks for taking the time to elaborate. My query though is when using my 3D modelling application (lightwave). When i click on the green + it expands it, but ALWAYS leaves about 1cm gap from the right hand side of the screen (which serves no purpose at all). I can drag it to enlarge it, but it requires me to do this everytime i start the application up. Just seems strange to me and of no use what so ever!

Incidentally i'm using 10.4.3

Many thanks

There was an older guideline that held that an application shouldn't ever completely cover the desktop either (and specifically the left side, so that you could always see the drives and folders along the left side of the desktop.) This allowed you to switch back to the Finder by clicking there. I think this was deprecated in OS X because the Dock made it less necessary.

Each individual application has control over its own behavior. Some apps (TextEdit, for one) can be even more annoying...they won't zoom enough to show the full width of the document no matter how wide it is, or how much screen space you have. Some (like Opera) will "maximize" like a Windows app no matter what. iTunes toggles between normal and "mini" views. OmniGraffle follows the rule to the letter. Eudora actually lets you set pixel values.

The developers of Lightwave might still follow the previous convention of leaving space for the desktop. If it is, as you say, just 1 cm or so, then does it really matter that much?

Maximize - minimize screen

Hi, everyone,

I have a somewhat related problem with screen size. The shortcut key for minimizing the screen is Command + M, but there's no easy way to blow it back up again from the keyboard (Command + F3 to get into the dock and then arrowing over to the minimized screen icon -- tedious!). I find this really irritating in OSX 10.3, because in Windows you can just toggle the **** thing from minimize to normal. Am I missing something here? Any suggestions?

Many thanks, Bix

technologist said:

If it is, as you say, just 1 cm or so, then does it really matter that much?

Click to expand...

No mate it doesn't, and i'm not moaning,the step to Macs from PC's for my studio has been great. But please appreciate that as a newbie to the Mac format i want to pick up as much knowledge as i can, and if it was leaving the gap on the right hand side because i was doing something silly or completely missing the obvious then i wanted to know what that was.

As this isn't the case then at least i know that it isn't something i'm doing wrong. I was just curious.

Minimized icon

When a file gets minimized the icon appears on the right side of the dock, just before the trash can. Is there any way to make the minimized icon appear as the first item on the far left of the dock, where the finder icon is, and move the finder icon to the right? That way you could restore the minimized file to normal view with just Control + F3 then Return. I tried System Preferences but didn't see any way to do this. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks, Bix

NewTek's been around for quite a long time. ****, LightWave is in its eighth revision. I have a feeling that technologist's suspicion about the 'convention' is correct.