7month Switcher - Q's about Managing Open Windows

Hi Folks -
I'm looking for some tips and tricks. I started using a Mac about 7 months ago. I've got to say, after years of hearing all the hype . . . I'm pretty underwhelmed. It's not that I hate it, but frankly, there's nothing about it that, FOR ME, lives up to the hype. ("it just works" and spyware, viruses, malware agruments don't hold sway with me -- I've never had a problem with my Windows machines and I've never had a problem with my Mac).

In any event, I'm not trying to turn this into a debate of "My Dad is bigger than your Dad." Instead I have a few questions about managing open windows. There are a couple of things I really haven't really gotten used to and dislike in OSx and was wondering if folks had some tips or tricks for me:

1. I absolutely hate that I can only resize a window in the bottom right corner.

2. It drives me nuts that when I click the window maximize button, the window may or may not fill my entire screen. If it doesn't fill the entire screen then I have to resize in the bottom right corner. UGH!

3. I find it very disorienting that the menu for all windows stays at the top of the screen rather than being part of the open window.

4. Finally, when I minimize a window, is there a way to stop the animation sequence showing the open window getting "sucked" into the tool bar. I personally find it very annoying.

I know these are may be minor quibbles for some, and I thought at first it was just a matter of me getting used to things. But I must say that 7 months later, they remain annoyances. So if folks know of any settings I can change or third party add-ons I can use, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

Hey - Thanks for taking the time to reply. Especially for pointing me towards MRoogle -- my new best friend.

I think you might be right . . . my brain may just not be wired for the way OS x implements certain things. Once I'm actually in my application, doing my work, I'm generally oblivious as to whether I'm using Windows or OS x (aside from the application menu).

Anyway, thanks again for responding and pointing me toward a great info resource!

 

Good information on what may or may not be in Lion. With respect to 3, you're right you can only click one at a time but it's incredibly inefficient. If I'm working in a window on the far right, having to mouse over to the upper left to click on something drive me crazy. Menu's take up very little screen real estate and I'd gladly give up the space for efficiency. To me it's as if all the light switches in my house are located in the front hall and I have to run there every time I need to turn a light switch off or on. Very inefficient. But everyone has different likes and dislikes. These are mine.

Thanks for reading and responding.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. With all due respect, I'm not sure whether you're trying to be helpful or condescending. Something in the tone suggests the latter -- I apologize if I'm wrong. Nevertheless, I do appreciate you're taking the time to reply. Having said that . . .

- For me and the way I work, the menus are neither in a predictable place nor are they in a logical place. That's my experience. It's neither right or wrong. So yes, although you may find it hard to believe, I find it disorienting and very inefficient for my work flow.

- I'm not sure what you mean "it's much faster to flick mouse up to access menus." I run on two 27" monitors . . . that can be up to 54" of horizontal screen real estate to traverse -- so no, for me I don't find that efficient -- particularly when working on the far right of my right hand monitor.

- "Just switch to another app. Minimizing windows is such a windows thing." Uh, actually, no. The need to minimize or maximize windows depends upon your applications and your workflow. It's operating system agnostic.

 

Hey . . . thanks for letting me know how to put the genie back in the bottle!

I understand what you're saying about maximizing windows but for what I'm doing, I need to maximize. And after 7 months of resizing with the bttm right corner -- I still don't like it. As another poster pointed out, there may be some changes coming in Lion that may work better for me.

Thanks for solving one of my personal annoyances.

 

Well it sounds like you've found a workflow that works seamlessly for you. I'm still trying to perfect mine on OS X. I'll follow your advice and experiment more with Expose and Spaces and see if I can make some improvements. This is the kind of info I was looking for when I posted. Thanks!