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Maximizing Windows? How could Apple miss this?

M

MarkF786

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 21, 2006
36
0
I'm a convert to Mac OS X and though I love the OS, their's one major flaw; when I hit the "zoom" green button, the window does not maximize like on Windows. Instead, it seems to only maximize top-to-bottom, not side-to-side. When I maximize a window, I want it to fill the entire screen. The problem seems to exist with all applications I've tried.

Is there a trick or fix for this? It's quite annoying having to manual resize a window to fill the screen every time I open an application.

Thanks!

Mark
 
there's not a fix that i know of. but after a while i started to enjoy not having the window maximized. I like seeing all my open apps on the screen.
 
I never understood the need to "maximize" a window. As long as it is big enough for what's inside it (or what it's being used for), that's all the space it should need to take up.

The green button is for this purpose, I believe. Meant to resize the window to fit its contents.
 
This is the intended behavior for Macs. In Windows the main reason I see to maximize a window is that then only that application's menus are visible. I've often clicked on the wrong menus because I don't often maximize Windows even when using XP. However since the Mac puts the active application menus at the top of the screen regardless of which applications are visible maximizing does little to avoid this confusion since that is taken care of by only having one applications menus visible at a time.

I myself prefer not to maximize windows so I can quickly move to another open app by just clicking on whichever corner of the window is visible.
 
Maximizing = Doing it Wrong

I find it's only useful for video. Otherwise you lose a lot of screen space due to ONE program taking up the ENTIRE screen.
 
someguy said:
I never understood the need to "maximize" a window. As long as it is big enough for what's inside it (or what it's being used for), that's all the space it should need to take up.

The green button is for this purpose, I believe. Meant to resize the window to fit its contents.
Click to expand...

yeah, why someone would want +3" of white on either side of a website is beyond reason. If you like wasting 6" of screen then you can drag the lower right hand corner of windows.
 
7on said:
yeah, why someone would want +3" of white on either side of a website is beyond reason. If you like wasting 6" of screen then you can drag the lower right hand corner of windows.
Click to expand...

I bet hes got a 30" ACD too :D
 
I agree that maximizing is kinda pointless

but I do know of a fix for Safari.

Make a new bookmark, give it a name like "Maximize" or "+" and the url "javascript:self.moveTo(0,0);self.resizeTo(screen.availWidth,screen.availHeight);"

then whenever you visit that bookmark all do will be is maximize the window, nothing more, nothing less.
 
someguy said:
I never understood the need to "maximize" a window. As long as it is big enough for what's inside it (or what it's being used for), that's all the space it should need to take up.

The green button is for this purpose, I believe. Meant to resize the window to fit its contents.
Click to expand...

I mainly agree, but options are good. It would be nice if you were able to maximize to full screen regardless of the content of the window. Something like [apple] click the green button.
 
Limits

ya, I am finding it odd that maximizing does not fill up the whole screen. Maybe this is so you can see the other windows? I'm new to the apple operating system and I'm just now learning the ropes.
 
I have a MacBook which doesn't have a lot of screen real-estate, IMHO. If I'm working on only one app, I prefer to have it fill the screen. Also, many programs will utilize the larger window when you expand it (a word processor, for example).

NOT maximizing the window for me is like having overlapping TV channels, none of them filling the screen. And if you were watching a wide-screen movie, would you like to see the last channel you were watching on top and the bottom rather than the black bars? It's a distraction! :eek:

Mark
 
I see no need for max window when half of it is not being used fully. Using apps like word and etc..still feels like wasted space when maxed.

If you want that window max then drag it to the desired size.



Bless
 
CommonMan said:
ya, I am finding it odd that maximizing does not fill up the whole screen. Maybe this is so you can see the other windows? I'm new to the apple operating system and I'm just now learning the ropes.
Click to expand...
Thats because you are used to how Windows works. In OS X the green button isn't a maximize button, its called zoom and that's exactly what it does. Now that I use OS X I rarely have wanted to maximize a window. The reason non maximized windows suck in Windows is because the windows have no depth (no shadow) so it makes it hard to look at. But in OS X the windows do have depth so you are looking at an object that is above the desktop like in life.

... if you were watching a wide-screen movie, would you like to see the last channel you were watching on top and the bottom rather than the black bars? It's a distraction!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you have a focusing problem. Seeing the desktop behind this (Safari) window doesn't bother me. In fact, I don't even notice it because my mind ignores it and I focus on the window in front of me.
 
It's called Windows, but a lot of people maximize the windows, that means, there is something wrong with Window(s) not OS X.
 
You guys are all fanboys ;-)

I'm OS agnostic; I use Windows & innumerable UNIX/Linux variants, and now OS X. I used to use System 7.5.1 and previous versions (I don't think it had this "issue"). All modern OSes I can think of use the "maximum" paradigm. In terms of a UI, I think it maps closer to reality...

If I'm working with real documents, I would just have one in front of me and the other set to the side. I would not pile them in a random stack and just write on whatever's on top.

If I were dicing vegatables, I would have one vegetable on the cutting board at a time... I would start chopping carrots on top of thed diced tomatoes.

Though you might be able to think of some activity in life where everything is jumbled up in a big pile in front of you, I would not think it's typical.

As a person who often has 10+ apps open at a time, it can get quite messy when they are all visible.
 
MarkF786 said:
You guys are all fanboys ;-)

I'm OS agnostic; I use Windows & innumerable UNIX/Linux variants, and now OS X. I used to use System 7.5.1 and previous versions (I don't think it had this "issue"). All modern OSes I can think of use the "maximum" paradigm. In terms of a UI, I think it maps closer to reality...

If I'm working with real documents, I would just have one in front of me and the other set to the side. I would not pile them in a random stack and just write on whatever's on top.

If I were dicing vegatables, I would have one vegetable on the cutting board at a time... I would start chopping carrots on top of thed diced tomatoes.

Though you might be able to think of some activity in life where everything is jumbled up in a big pile in front of you, I would not think it's typical.

As a person who often has 10+ apps open at a time, it can get quite messy when they are all visible.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider myself a fanboy, but I find Apple's solutions way better.

If you don't want to have certain windows visible why not minimize it to the dock? Just press the yellow button or double click on the top of the window or press control + m.
 
It is a difference in philosophy which has been endlessly debated. I am in the mac way camp, and I think filling the whole screen will become more pointless as screens continue to get larger.

However, resize the window manually to fill the screen and most apps will remember that when you start them.
 
Off topic, but try following: press ctrl + scroll (mouse wheel or two finger on glide pad).

Just discovered that and had to share.
 
Googling the topic gave a lot of info. Apparently this is one of the top "annoyances" most people point out in OS X. Also, there are a few utilities to fix it. I'll have to try them out.

Mark
 
I like the fact that I can click on a word document that's peeking out on the left side of my firefox window. Or click on Lotus Notes which I always have at the top of the screen. I always Firefox in the center and Itunes at the bottom, so all my apps are just a click away. I could use the toolbar to click between apps but it's habit forming how each person clicks between apps and this the way I do it.

Also, I was wondering what this green button everyone is talking about and just discovered it. Cool. I've never used that before.

The one thing I hate is when I open a web page in a new window rather than a tab, and it resizes the new window too big. It covers up my other apps and it pisses me off. I'm sure there's a fix for this in the Mozilla preferences but it doesn't bother me enough to find out.
 
MarkF786 said:
Googling the topic gave a lot of info. Apparently this is one of the top "annoyances" most people point out in OS X. Also, there are a few utilities to fix it. I'll have to try them out.
Click to expand...

I think one should replace "people" with "switchers" and this might be accurate.

The reason (IMO) that the Mac OS is like this (and always has been) is because the Finder and the Desktop are a very important resource. Not so much in Windows, though moreso with XP. But it's integral to the Mac (moreso in pre-OS X), and if you're full screening Word or Safari, it's a little more difficult to get to the Desktop quickly. Just my theory.
 
yellow said:
I think one should replace "people" with "switchers" and this might be accurate.

The reason (IMO) that the Mac OS is like this (and always has been) is because the Finder and the Desktop are a very important resource. Not so much in Windows, though moreso with XP. But it's integral to the Mac (moreso in pre-OS X), and if you're full screening Word or Safari, it's a little more difficult to get to the Desktop quickly. Just my theory.
Click to expand...
Hence, the birth of Expose. :)
 
MarkF786 said:
You guys are all fanboys ;-)

I'm OS agnostic; I use Windows & innumerable UNIX/Linux variants, and now OS X. I used to use System 7.5.1 and previous versions (I don't think it had this "issue"). All modern OSes I can think of use the "maximum" paradigm. In terms of a UI, I think it maps closer to reality...

If I'm working with real documents, I would just have one in front of me and the other set to the side. I would not pile them in a random stack and just write on whatever's on top.

If I were dicing vegatables, I would have one vegetable on the cutting board at a time... I would start chopping carrots on top of thed diced tomatoes.

Though you might be able to think of some activity in life where everything is jumbled up in a big pile in front of you, I would not think it's typical.

As a person who often has 10+ apps open at a time, it can get quite messy when they are all visible.
Click to expand...

When you get around to multitasking you'll find it's much easier to not have things maximized. I mean, what's the point? To hide things that aren't in your way anyway?

Your analogy seems to apply to people who only do one thing at a time, or whose projects are contained in a single app only. OS X realizes that you should only make things as big as they need to be, no more, no less.
 
someguy said:
Hence, the birth of Expose. :)
Click to expand...

Indeed. But I think that was more because OS X is such a good multi-tasker (as opposed to pre-OS X), and people tend to have a lot more open and working at one time.
 
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