Maximize Me!

kramer2718 · Jun 4, 2008

When I bought my MacBook, my mac-head friends told me to wait a bit and get used to the UI. Well, it has been a month. Some things I've gotten used to, but there is still one thing that drives me crazy. THERE'S NO MAXIMIZE BUTTON. I realize that there are a bunch of quirky Mac people out there who like it, but I hate it! I've read all of the arguments about why the Mac green button is better or whatever. I don't care. And by the way, Mac-sters, the maximize button isn't just a Windows thing. All of the major window managers for *NIX have them.

So please people, can someone point me to some third party app that I can install that will make my windows work properly so that I can get some work done?

SchneiderStudio · Jun 4, 2008

im on vista, whats the "maximizer"?

sanity1082 · Jun 4, 2008

the little button on the top right in windows that when you click on it makes the app take up the whole screen

Dysfunction · Jun 4, 2008

sanity1082 said:
the little button on the top right in windows that when you click on it makes the app take up the whole screen

you mean like the little green button with the + symbol on the upper left corner of mac windows?

dadsgravy · Jun 4, 2008

Hello.

Mine works just fine.

If I'm in safari and I put the upper left corner of the window in the upper left corner of the screen, then drag the lower right corner of the window to the lower right corner of the screen, it will "fill" the screen. If I close the window with the red X or quit safari, the next time I open safari, the window will "fill" the screen. I have to manually adjust it one time. The OS remembers my settings.

If the green + button isn't working for you, or the window or application opens in a minimized state after a manual adjustment upon relaunch, then there is something wrong with the OS. Or more than likely, it is user error.

I have worked on a lot of different macs and they remember my settings every time. There have been a few applications that refuse to remember to go full screen on launch, but it never caused me distress or interrupted my work flow. I would just re-size the screen.

What version of the OS do you have? What kind of mac are you using?

Try opening safari and drag the window so it fits full screen. Then quit safari and see if it opens full screen again. If not, post her with your mac info and myself or some one will be happy to help get your mac behaving properly.

SchneiderStudio · Jun 4, 2008

oh duhh, i use it alot.. so the green button does the same thing like vista?

mrplow · Jun 4, 2008

kramer2718 said:
When I bought my MacBook, my mac-head friends told me to wait a bit and get used to the UI. Well, it has been a month. Some things I've gotten used to, but there is still one thing that drives me ^%^&%ing crazy. THERE'S NO MAXIMIZE BUTTON. I realize that there are a bunch of quirky Mac people out there who like it, but I @$*^ing hate it! I've read all of the arguments about why the Mac green button is better or whatever. I don't care. And by the way, Mac-sters, the maximize button isn't just a Windows thing. All of the major window managers for *NIX have them.

So please people, can someone point me to some third party app that I can install that will make my windows work properly so that I can get some work done?

I'm with you. Somethings it's good just to concentrate on one thing that uses the whole screen estate. With expose and spaces setup as a hot corners it's easy switch between apps etc. It would be nice to have the choice.

Try this http://forums.invisionpower.com/lofiversion/index.php/t268704.html

CL33Zero · Jun 4, 2008

WHY would you want something to maximize? That defeats the point. Even if you do drag something from corner to corner, like a browser window, the things inside dont get any bigger. They just rearrange or fill the new space with nothing (myspace). Plus you cant drag and drop, a huge concept of the OS. I understand its something that you are used to, but this isn't windows. My point is, the apps are the size they are, and just cause you stretch them across the screen dont mean that anything inside them is bigger. There is certainly some perks to having an app maximized, but nowhere near that of having a bunch of open windows that can interact with each other in some way. I have never used or liked the maximize feature on any computer. It never appealed to me. Im sorry if this doesnt answer your question, or help you out, but I just would like to stress that you are trying to fix something thats not broken.

kramer2718 · Jun 4, 2008

First, let me please say thank you, dadsgravy for giving me a serious answer and to the rest of you that I hope that you enjoy your stupid jokes--they are not serving to promote your favorite platform very well. Apple should be taking complaints like mine seriously. Their quirky UI may be good for some, but if they want even more market share, they will have to address some of these concerns (hopefully by making the UI even more flexible). I'm a little bit ticked off that I paid a load of money for a machine that is unpleasant to use. 

No it doesn't quite work. I have a MacBook and am running 10.5.2 (about to upgrade to 10.5.3). When I drag safari to full screen and then quit and start it again, it fills most of the screen, but not all.

Anyway, when I use other OSs, I almost never manually resize windows at all. It's a pain that I would rather not deal with. If I pay for X square footage of monitor, I want to use X square footage 99% of the time and I want a button that facilitates that. Vista might or might not. I don't know--never used it. XP does, KDE does, and Gnome does (I think OpenWindows does, but haven't used that in a while). Why doesn't OS X?

By the way, I'm this close to putting KDE on my MacBook, but am hoping that some of you Apple fanatics can help me get what I want out of the native window manager.

CL33Zero · Jun 4, 2008

kramer2718 said:
If I pay for X square footage of monitor, I want to use X square footage 99% of the time and I want a button that facilitates that.

I would just like to further my points by saying, that a larger monitor allows you to have MORE windows open on screen at once. Or for things like PS and other design tools, it allows you to see your work as a more real sized image.

So what Im saying, is a safari window on a 13" MacBook, will be the same size as one on a 30" Mac Pro monitor. But its your ability to have 4 open next to each other on the 30" that makes it more useful, and not just more pleasant to look at.

mrplow · Jun 4, 2008

I switched last year and have spent a lot of time on these forums since. They've been very helpful and friendly in the main and I've made a conscious effort to share back with the forum what I've learnt.

I use windows and OS X daily. There are things about both that I'd change given a choice and thanks to many small developers out there there are many 3rd party apps and tweaks that can be used to tailor the way individuals work. These ways may not be the best ways, they won't suit everyone but they suit the individual sat in front of that mac or pc at that time. That personalisation should not be derided.

By all means offer advice on the alternatives if appropriate but 'bashing' posters who want to work a different way is destructive and undermines the quality of the forum.

Sentiments like "it's better this way", "you must do this, if your not doing it this way your wrong", "the OSX way is right, the windows way is wrong" only serve to divide, annoy and ultimately they fail to help the original poster resolve his or her query.

/Sermon over

kramer2718
- I hope my first post on this thread works for you.
- I do have agree with skaheadpunk (below) to a point. You may have received a warmer and more helpful reception without the bullish approach

skaheadpunk · Jun 4, 2008

kramer2718 said:
First, let me please say thank you, dadsgravy for giving me a serious answer and to the rest of you that I hope that you enjoy your stupid jokes--they are not serving to promote your favorite platform very well. Apple should be taking complaints like mine seriously. Their quirky UI may be good for some, but if they want even more market share, they will have to address some of these concerns (hopefully by making the UI even more flexible). I'm a little bit ****** off that I paid a load of money for a machine that is unpleasant to use. 

No it doesn't quite work. I have a MacBook and am running 10.5.2 (about to upgrade to 10.5.3). When I drag safari to full screen and then quit and start it again, it fills most of the screen, but not all.

Anyway, when I use other OSs, I almost never manually resize windows at all. It's a pain that I would rather not deal with. If I pay for X square footage of monitor, I want to use X square footage 99% of the time and I want a button that facilitates that. Vista might or might not. I don't know--never used it. XP does, KDE does, and Gnome does (I think OpenWindows does, but haven't used that in a while). Why doesn't OS X?

By the way, I'm this close to putting KDE on my MacBook, but am hoping that some of you Apple fanatics can help me get what I want out of the native window manager.

You could try being a little less offensive...

Have you actually complained to Apple? Did they take you seriously?

If you're going to get on with OS X you're gong to need to accept that it's just not Windows (or KDE or Gnome for that matter) - things work differently, and both have their advantages and disadvantages.

And seriously... all that empty space around things? The idea is that you can have more windows, not one huge one. If I were using a 30" screen I wouldn't want a 30" window with the same amount of content with a load of space around it, it kinda defeats the point really. It's an efficiency thing. Right now I can type this post and still have a peek at my MSN contact list.

If Apple make their OS just like all the others there's not going to be much point in having it really. I can't see that increasing market share.

By all means put KDE on your MacBook, it's not going to bother us any, and if that works better for you then go for it!

SchneiderStudio · Jun 4, 2008

it also depends on these forums, we write alot and if you have a "small" windows like that guy is talking about here, then you will also have to scroll sideways to see all the text right? with a bigger "full screen" window you will not have too

SchneiderStudio · Jun 4, 2008

just proving my point:

;D

PapaNoHair · Jun 4, 2008

kramer2718 said:
First, let me please say thank you, dadsgravy for giving me a serious answer and to the rest of you that I hope that you enjoy your stupid jokes--they are not serving to promote your favorite platform very well. Apple should be taking complaints like mine seriously. Their quirky UI may be good for some, but if they want even more market share, they will have to address some of these concerns (hopefully by making the UI even more flexible). I'm a little bit ****** off that I paid a load of money for a machine that is unpleasant to use. 

No it doesn't quite work. I have a MacBook and am running 10.5.2 (about to upgrade to 10.5.3). When I drag safari to full screen and then quit and start it again, it fills most of the screen, but not all.

Anyway, when I use other OSs, I almost never manually resize windows at all. It's a pain that I would rather not deal with. If I pay for X square footage of monitor, I want to use X square footage 99% of the time and I want a button that facilitates that. Vista might or might not. I don't know--never used it. XP does, KDE does, and Gnome does (I think OpenWindows does, but haven't used that in a while). Why doesn't OS X?

By the way, I'm this close to putting KDE on my MacBook, but am hoping that some of you Apple fanatics can help me get what I want out of the native window manager.

Actually there is another way of looking at this: should Apple really make its OS just a clone of Microsoft so everyone who thinks about switching can feel comfortable? Prior to coming to Mac I also used to maximize my window full screen. After coming to Mac I now realize I don't want that window full screen. I do a lot a dragging and dropping and it works better that way (at least for me). If one relatively small point gets you that upset you are going to one unhappy camper down the road. If you feel more comfortable with the way Windows is set up then by all means stay with Windows. If you feel more comfortable with Linux then by all means stay with Linux. If you do not feel comfortable with Mac then you could probably sell your Mac, purchase a lower-priced Windows (or Linux) and then pocket the rest of the money. By the way: just because we think differently from you does not make us fanatics. We are not the ones who are upset.

Alexis · Jun 4, 2008

I'm disgusted there's no Start bar. What are Apple playing at? Everybody knows the only way to properly use a computer is to have some bloated tree system that takes about 15 seconds to trawl through to find the program you want.

Geez.

OS X has no maximize button on purpose. OS X is not a rigid flip chart system like Windows. You need to get your head around that.

Get over it, or sell up and run back crying to Bill.

CL33Zero · Jun 4, 2008

SchneiderStudio said:
just proving my point:

;D

Yes, but you can make them just wide enough to where they just display the whole page. After then there isnt much point. Your just spacing it out.

Normal

20080604-tcr8g9gmuu2xk5uugjc57f5k2f.preview.jpg

"Maximized"

20080604-fjwcfmb1iin567nu6be52bihnk.preview.jpg

Normal

20080604-gre4d4kj59n6y8ipbrhf3scbp4.preview.jpg

"Maximized"

20080604-qh95ktc7asai4swe68p8abmkb8.preview.jpg

Chris_Mav · Jun 4, 2008

kramer2718 said:
First, let me please say thank you, dadsgravy for giving me a serious answer and to the rest of you that I hope that you enjoy your stupid jokes--they are not serving to promote your favorite platform very well. Apple should be taking complaints like mine seriously. Their quirky UI may be good for some, but if they want even more market share, they will have to address some of these concerns (hopefully by making the UI even more flexible). I'm a little bit ticked off that I paid a load of money for a machine that is unpleasant to use. 

No it doesn't quite work. I have a MacBook and am running 10.5.2 (about to upgrade to 10.5.3). When I drag safari to full screen and then quit and start it again, it fills most of the screen, but not all.

Anyway, when I use other OSs, I almost never manually resize windows at all. It's a pain that I would rather not deal with. If I pay for X square footage of monitor, I want to use X square footage 99% of the time and I want a button that facilitates that. Vista might or might not. I don't know--never used it. XP does, KDE does, and Gnome does (I think OpenWindows does, but haven't used that in a while). Why doesn't OS X?

By the way, I'm this close to putting KDE on my MacBook, but am hoping that some of you Apple fanatics can help me get what I want out of the native window manager.

If your going to be offensive, do us all a favour....

LOG OUT

hexonxonx · Jun 4, 2008

The following works for Safari:

On your menu bar, create a new short cut. Mine is labled full screen. In the address field, enter:

javascript:self.moveTo(0,0);self.resizeTo(screen.availWidth,screen.availHeight);

Oh, and for people saying OSX is no Windows, it isn't, but it is YOUR computer and you can customize it any way you like. I have all my apps opening full screen except finder. I especially use Safari and iTunes this way. Nothing wrong with that.

skaheadpunk · Jun 4, 2008

hexonxonx said:
The following works for Safari:

On your menu bar, create a new short cut. Mine is labled full screen. In the address field, enter:

javascript:self.moveTo(0,0);self.resizeTo(screen.availWidth,screen.availHeight);

Oh, and for people saying OSX is no Windows, it isn't, but it is YOUR computer and you can customize it any way you like. I have all my apps opening full screen except finder. I especially use Safari and iTunes this way. Nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong at all

That's what's it all about - find what works for you and go with it.