I've been thinking about this and what Apple could possibly do to improve Mission Control. In one sense, it's very unified, elegant, and clean, which is much better. But in another sense, it greatly hampers what Expose used to be, which needless to say, is much worse.
However, it doesn't have to be. They can make improvements to it to maximise the functionality of Expose in Mission Control, to at least get it closer in efficiency to what Expose used to be.
Here's a few of my idea's:
1) We need better positioning of windows (regardless of whether any of the below is implemented)
2) We don't need to see the dock. It's taking up unnecessary space. (Aside from showing you minimised windows if you have "minimise windows to app" disabled which I address below.)
3) The desktops that sit at the top of the screen should sit up past the top of the screen so you can't see them. (I would also have the page dot indicators up the top like in iOS.) The desktops should only drop down (and shift the desktop down as well) when you move your mouse to the top of the screen. This allows for more space for the desktop.
4) We need to be able to see minimised windows (and not in the dock):
4a) They need to be shown as small windows underneath their respective app's icon (think of Stacks in grid mode, but with only one row, possibly scrollable if there are very many minimised windows.)
4b) They need to be shown at the bottom of the screen (like desktops but on the bottom) grouped by app icon, and have them sit below the screen (not visible) and come up (and shift the desktop up) only when you move your mouse over them.
Here's a few images to illustrate some of my points (click for a larger 1080p version):
This is with only six Safari windows open (and nothing else):
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This is application Expose with the same six Safari windows open:
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This is with six Safari windows open as well as several other windows from other applications open:
![]()
This is with those Safari windows spread out (scroll/flick up):
![]()
As you can see. Mission Control lays out everything very poorly from the same application, even with no other windows from other applications open. Now, I love Lion and I do think Mission Control is great but they really need to fix this to make it more usable. I find it significantly more difficult to find the window I want.
This thread is purely for discussing Mission Control. Please post your thoughts about it and what you think might improve it. (We all know Apple is never going to go back to using the original Expose, so let's not even bother with that.)
However, it doesn't have to be. They can make improvements to it to maximise the functionality of Expose in Mission Control, to at least get it closer in efficiency to what Expose used to be.
Here's a few of my idea's:
1) We need better positioning of windows (regardless of whether any of the below is implemented)
2) We don't need to see the dock. It's taking up unnecessary space. (Aside from showing you minimised windows if you have "minimise windows to app" disabled which I address below.)
3) The desktops that sit at the top of the screen should sit up past the top of the screen so you can't see them. (I would also have the page dot indicators up the top like in iOS.) The desktops should only drop down (and shift the desktop down as well) when you move your mouse to the top of the screen. This allows for more space for the desktop.
4) We need to be able to see minimised windows (and not in the dock):
4a) They need to be shown as small windows underneath their respective app's icon (think of Stacks in grid mode, but with only one row, possibly scrollable if there are very many minimised windows.)
4b) They need to be shown at the bottom of the screen (like desktops but on the bottom) grouped by app icon, and have them sit below the screen (not visible) and come up (and shift the desktop up) only when you move your mouse over them.
Here's a few images to illustrate some of my points (click for a larger 1080p version):
This is with only six Safari windows open (and nothing else):
This is application Expose with the same six Safari windows open:
This is with six Safari windows open as well as several other windows from other applications open:
This is with those Safari windows spread out (scroll/flick up):
As you can see. Mission Control lays out everything very poorly from the same application, even with no other windows from other applications open. Now, I love Lion and I do think Mission Control is great but they really need to fix this to make it more usable. I find it significantly more difficult to find the window I want.
This thread is purely for discussing Mission Control. Please post your thoughts about it and what you think might improve it. (We all know Apple is never going to go back to using the original Expose, so let's not even bother with that.)
