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Can OSX do this? (Windows can)

People are making excuses as to why OS X doesn't have this feature and instead of facing the point that OS X doesn't have every convienent freature XP has (even though os x is supposed to be user friendly), people turn around and just stomp on the whole idea of having an extra OPTION (read: NOT required to use) that would actually makes things a bit easier.
 
Chef Medeski said:
Look thats absolutely ridiculous. Thats like saying that if you buy a car you shouldn't modify it. Its your property you can do whatever you want with it except of course copy it. Yet, I think appearance is a preferential thing. My friend like his purple hair I think it looks like dog sh*t. If it was up to Apple would everyone merely have the classic Blond hair/ Blue eyes. May look great, but I prefer Brown hair/brown eyes. Some might prefer curly. Or red heads. Its not fair that Apple gets to pick what looks the best.
Click to expand...

I agree and disagree at the same time. I agree that people should be able to do what they want with what is theirs. I realize people have the right to change a building after it has been designed and built, although I've heard that America's most famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright used to design his clients furniture and where they specifically went in the house and he would occasionally stop by their homes and if they had rearranged HIS design, he would come back when they weren't home and make the owners servants put it back to how he wanted it. That is on the extreme side, but that is almost how Apple is sometimes. They are very picky about how their stuff looks if you haven't noticed. All I was trying to say is that they make it difficult to change probably for those reasons. It's for everyone to decide for themselves whether they think that is moral or not, but whatever the difference, this seems to be how Apple thinks of their products. In a way I don't blame them, they have a lot to fight against and it is in their image that sets them apart from other companies.
 
WinXP definitely has some excellent features that OSX lacks.
(Although tiling 10 WinXP windows would result in 10 toolbars and not much else.)

The Finder is scriptable, so making it tile windows is doable, and some utilities exist that do exactly that.
http://homepage.mac.com/jonn8/fwm/

You can also script Safari to make it open a session as two windows side by side etc...
 
I use FireFox, and just open new pages as new tabs, making switching from one website to another pretty easy. The exception would be in cases when I want to compare two pages side by side.. I open a new window.. but I rarley have more than two browser windows open at a time.

To be honest, on the Windows platform, I think the last time I felt the need to use the 'tile' feature was back in 3.11, since from 95 on up you had tabs for each running app right on the 'start bar'.

As was mentioned a few times earlier, MacOSX has expose.. if I find myself in a situation where I have a bunch of things open at once, and need to find a particular one fast, hitting the F10 key clears up the clutter in an instant.

Windows does have some features MacOSX lacks.. like support for thousands of Malware/Spyware apps.. not to mention support for resource hungry Anti-Virus software.

Lets not forget the Windows GUI that looks like a 4 year old who just ate a box of dayglow crayons puked on the screen.

Humm.. what else does Windows have that OSX dosen't? Ohh here's one.. my wifes PEE-C running XP Pro was running low on memory last week for no apparent reason. She was in the middle of working with applications and they'd just vanish.

No warning, no nothing, just POOF.. the app was gone. I put another 512MB of DDR in there and it seems to have fixed the problem.. for now.

The only TRUE advantage Windows has over OSX would be greater software availability, and that Mac applications tend to be more expensive than their Windows bretheren.

The time and money you save with a PC is generally more than spent trying to clean your system of viruses, or formatting and re-installing your OS every 6 months or so.
 
I would guess that this feature doesn't exist because OS X assumes you are using windows at the size they need to be anyway, not fullscreen like in Windows. And if this is the case, you can just PUT them side by side. Let's face it, if they are small enough to BE side by side, you can just put them side by side, and if they are too big to be side by side, you 'Apple+`' between them.

OS X is different in this repect, and the document based metaphor is IMO better.
 
decksnap said:
I would guess that this feature doesn't exist because OS X assumes you are using windows at the size they need to be anyway, not fullscreen like in Windows. And if this is the case, you can just PUT them side by side. Let's face it, if they are small enough to BE side by side, you can just put them side by side, and if they are too big to be side by side, you 'Apple+`' between them.
Click to expand...

At the "size they need to be?" The re-sizing thing sometimes sucks. Sometimes you want it bigger than what OS X thinks is the minimum absolute window/size... Remember, it's the user who is ultimately right when it comes to their computing experience. If there is a reason for a user to want the option/feature that the OP mentioned, it should be there. It's not for Apple to decide what users want. They need to give users what they want.

0010101 said:
Windows does have some features MacOSX lacks.. like support for thousands of Malware/Spyware apps.. not to mention support for resource hungry Anti-Virus software.

Lets not forget the Windows GUI that looks like a 4 year old who just ate a box of dayglow crayons puked on the screen.

Humm.. what else does Windows have that OSX dosen't? Ohh here's one.. my wifes PEE-C running XP Pro was running low on memory last week for no apparent reason. She was in the middle of working with applications and they'd just vanish.

No warning, no nothing, just POOF.. the app was gone. I put another 512MB of DDR in there and it seems to have fixed the problem.. for now.

The only TRUE advantage Windows has over OSX would be greater software availability, and that Mac applications tend to be more expensive than their Windows bretheren.

The time and money you save with a PC is generally more than spent trying to clean your system of viruses, or formatting and re-installing your OS every 6 months or so.
Click to expand...

Bashing XP does nothing to add to the quality of this thread. We were talking about a feature OS X doesn't have that XP has, now you're talking about adding more RAM into your wife's PC and why PCs suck. >.>
 
MUCKYFINGERS said:
At the "size they need to be?" The re-sizing thing sometimes sucks. Sometimes you want it bigger than what OS X thinks is the minimum absolute window/size... Remember, it's the user who is ultimately right when it comes to their computing experience. If there is a reason for a user to want the option/feature that the OP mentioned, it should be there. It's not for Apple to decide what users want. They need to give users what they want.
Click to expand...

I agree with what you say about the user being right- but I think that this particular 'feature' is only a feature within the Windows UI metaphor.
 
adrianblaine said:
I agree and disagree at the same time. I agree that people should be able to do what they want with what is theirs. I realize people have the right to change a building after it has been designed and built, although I've heard that America's most famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright used to design his clients furniture and where they specifically went in the house and he would occasionally stop by their homes and if they had rearranged HIS design, he would come back when they weren't home and make the owners servants put it back to how he wanted it. That is on the extreme side, but that is almost how Apple is sometimes. They are very picky about how their stuff looks if you haven't noticed. All I was trying to say is that they make it difficult to change probably for those reasons. It's for everyone to decide for themselves whether they think that is moral or not, but whatever the difference, this seems to be how Apple thinks of their products. In a way I don't blame them, they have a lot to fight against and it is in their image that sets them apart from other companies.
Click to expand...

I don't find this to be the case at all.
I find the user-interace/GUI/aesthetic element in OSX much easier to improve and customise than Windows.
True, the default look is uniform, simple and of Apple's choice. But its still nice, still striking.
I don't think they're forcing it on anyone.
I've felt very little need to customise OSX, but hell, every other day on Windows I was using new skins, themes, shells, etc.

The default setting/look just works.
Its up to you if you want to change it, and I still think its better than Windows.
 
Cloudgazer said:
I don't find this to be the case at all.
I find the user-interace/GUI/aesthetic element in OSX much easier to improve and customise than Windows.
True, the default look is uniform, simple and of Apple's choice. But its still nice, still striking.
I don't think they're forcing it on anyone.
I've felt very little need to customise OSX, but hell, every other day on Windows I was using new skins, themes, shells, etc.

The default setting/look just works.
Its up to you if you want to change it, and I still think its better than Windows.
Click to expand...

I was just responding to Chef Medeski's critique on my first assessment of the situation. I like everything that you just mentioned as well and I am glad that Apple pays attention to details like that. But your last sentance is exactly what I was responding to, that it is up to you if you want to change it, Apple just makes it harder to do in OS X than Microsoft does with windows, and I was just stating that Apple is probably doing that for a reason (Like the Frank Lloyd Wright showing up at your door to put it back how he wanted it in the first place). Yes, Apple does make some attempt at giving you some choice in colors and such, but they give you very few options and they always look good. Windows just lets you do whatever the heck you want.

I believe the discussion was centered around the choice issue, not the actual design.
 
With a title like 'Can OSX do this? (Windows can)' it seems like the place to discuss all the things Windows does that MacOS doesn't.

Spyware, Malware, Blue screens of death, resource hogging, having to clean out the registry regularly (and/or format and re-install the OS), and yes.. being able to tile open windows are on that list.

XP has 'tile', and OSX has Expose. I prefer Expose. Your milage may vary.

PC's have more software available, and way more games. That probably won't ever change.

It's the age old argument about the $10 hooker vs the $300 hooker. Both pretty much serve the same purpose, but the cheap one will likely cost you more in the end.
 
well there are some functions I miss from winblows... like cut'n paste, but tilling is not at all one of them!! and what OS X does is just so much better, it looks great never breaks down and everything works! I wish Apple would integrate some og the good stuff from winblows but I would never go back to winblows for small things like that!
 
You know, I have to say this "love it or leave it" attitude from some Mac users is a real turn off.

Mac is supposed to be the friendly welcoming computing environment, and as soon as a user makes a perfectly reasonable feature request you effectively tell him to get the hell out.

Not good!

boxlight


Allotriophagy said:
Seems to me like you need to get used to the way things work in OS X or just stick to Windows.

NEXT!
Click to expand...
 
decksnap said:
I would guess that this feature doesn't exist because OS X assumes you are using windows at the size they need to be anyway, not fullscreen like in Windows. And if this is the case, you can just PUT them side by side. Let's face it, if they are small enough to BE side by side, you can just put them side by side, and if they are too big to be side by side, you 'Apple+`' between them.

OS X is different in this repect, and the document based metaphor is IMO better.
Click to expand...


But with documents you can esily put them side by side. So OSX doesn't fully implement the document based metaphor, if you think about it. We put documents side by side all the time with taking notes from a textbook, and even in our interface with a computer it is often taking information from a paper format and converting it to digital (with text or numerical based tasks anyway). We don't all have the luxury of a 30" ACD, so an easy way to put them side by side so you can transcribe/summarise without reverting to paper would be useful.
Tiling is the computer equivalent of spreading your documents out on the desk, albeit with less space, and is a common enough task in the physical world. I'm surprised that there is no simple feature to enable me to do that. If I'm taking notes from a website, or a pdf file, I'd like to be able to simply put them side by side, in much the same way as my notepad sits beside a textbook.
Sure it can be done by resizing windows, but that isn't as easy in OSX because you can only resize from one corner.
It's not a deal breaker, but if the OS claims to be easy to use, there should be a better solution










* Before I get attacked again, I am in general very happy with OSX, and find the fact that the OS generally dosesn't get in my way improves my productivity. I'd just like this little extra.


**So there be no doubt, it's not a "must have" feature, it's a "would like to have" feature


***Couldn't agree with you more, boxlight
 
j26 said:
But with documents you can esily put them side by side. So OSX doesn't fully implement the document based metaphor, if you think about it. We put documents side by side all the time with taking notes from a textbook, and even in our interface with a computer it is often taking information from a paper format and converting it to digital (with text or numerical based tasks anyway). We don't all have the luxury of a 30" ACD, so an easy way to put them side by side so you can transcribe/summarise without reverting to paper would be useful.
Tiling is the computer equivalent of spreading your documents out on the desk, albeit with less space, and is a common enough task in the physical world. I'm surprised that there is no simple feature to enable me to do that. If I'm taking notes from a website, or a pdf file, I'd like to be able to simply put them side by side, in much the same way as my notepad sits beside a textbook.
Sure it can be done by resizing windows, but that isn't as easy in OSX because you can only resize from one corner.
It's not a deal breaker, but if the OS claims to be easy to use, there should be a better solution
Click to expand...

Please re-read my post. I think you missed my point. Since all my documents are only the size they need to be, I put them side by side all the time.
 
j26 said:
Tiling is the computer equivalent of spreading your documents out on the desk, albeit with less space, and is a common enough task in the physical world. I'm surprised that there is no simple feature to enable me to do that. If I'm taking notes from a website, or a pdf file, I'd like to be able to simply put them side by side, in much the same way as my notepad sits beside a textbook.
Click to expand...

It would be very cool to do that easily in OS X, but even in windows it is flawed. From what I recall, Windows will only tile windows of the same program type (explorer, word...) and will not tile different programs together like a Word window and a browser window. Even in Windows it would need to be done manually. Am I wrong? I honestly haven't used Windows in several months so I can't remember.

I'm using your quote only as a description, I agree with you, but neither OS X or Windows TRULY has it right.
 
Count me in as someone who'd LOVE to see some sort of tiling feature in OS X.

At work, because the way things are archived here, I constantly need to open several finder windows at a time, and then switch/move files between them. My work computer is an eMac, and it doesn't have much screen space -- so I have to manually resize all the windows a certain size so they can all fit, and then place them all side-by-side in order to work efficiently. Expose doesn't help me at all in this regard.

As someone else said, if there was a way to have Expose work where it could STOP at the point where it shows all open windows on screen, and then allow you to work between those windows without making the one you click on enlarge to dominate the screen, it would make my work life soooooo much easier.

Really hoping we can see this in Leopard!
 
I think the assumption that because it might be useful to someone Apple should add a certain feature is flawed. That path leads to bloat and too much surface complexity. This issue is like the issue of themes. Instead of complaining that Apple isn't interested in this feature as a core function, why not try and get those with your opinion motivated to find or make an easy solution to the problem. Like people have said, something like this could be provided by a third party in a haxie or something. Why don't you try suggesting your idea to Unsanity?

This is what happened with Mac OS X themes.
 
0010101 said:
With a title like 'Can OSX do this? (Windows can)' it seems like the place to discuss all the things Windows does that MacOS doesn't.

Spyware, Malware, Blue screens of death, resource hogging, having to clean out the registry regularly (and/or format and re-install the OS), and yes.. being able to tile open windows are on that list.

XP has 'tile', and OSX has Expose. I prefer Expose. Your milage may vary.

PC's have more software available, and way more games. That probably won't ever change.

It's the age old argument about the $10 hooker vs the $300 hooker. Both pretty much serve the same purpose, but the cheap one will likely cost you more in the end.
Click to expand...

I keep hearing people spew out the Spyware and Malware arguments, but honestly, if you have some idea of what you're doing, it won't be a problem for you and your windoze box. The simple answer is to get some sort of anti virus or protection. This selling point of virus free Macs, while it appeals to us hardcore/knowedgleable computer users, is also I'm sure a major selling point for people who don't know jack about computers. This might be your mom, your grandpa, your aunt, etc, noobs who really dig their teeth into this.

Resource hogging? There aren't apps in OS X that resource hog? Firefox is just as much as a resource hog in XP as it is in OS X. And I am sure I can think of more too.

And as long as I've been using this XP box of mine, I can't remember ever having a BSD.

And the whole analogy of the $10 hooker vs $300 hooker was not only unecessary and disgusting, but also brought down the quality of this thread. >.>
 
kangaroo said:
In Windows you can have the system automatically tile your windows either horizontally or vertically. If for example you wanted to have two browser windows tiled side by side, Windows will maximize each window within your screen. The only way I can see doing this in OSX is to manually size each window. Is there something I'm missing or a workaround?
Click to expand...

What about Expose? That organises your different windows and has been around since OS X 10.3 (Panther).
F9 - tiles all windows
F10 - tiles windows from open application.
F11 - Hides all windows offscreen.
 
j26 said:
But with documents you can esily put them side by side. It's not a deal breaker, but if the OS claims to be easy to use, there should be a better solution
Click to expand...

Part of that ease of use comes from the ability to customize OS X and one of the overlooked champions for doing so is Applescript. What you are looking to do (and how to do it) can be found here:

For placing two browser windows side by side

Tile finder windows

More info (somewhat out of date) on setting up the script menu
 
It's a feature that few know about in Windows and that even fewer use. Doing it by hand takes 5 seconds instead of 1. I don't think it's a big deal.

Since OS X is based around non fullscreen you're best served by moving your windows around to best suit your workflow, sometimes that will be tile-like, but more often it will be a combination of tiling that isn't half and half and cascading windows.

Someone said you can put two documents side by side on your real desk, well you can do that on the OS X desktop too, using the same method of moving and resizing that you always do. I don't see my real desk having a "tile documents button".
 
Chef Medeski said:
Look thats absolutely ridiculous. Thats like saying that if you buy a car you shouldn't modify it. Its your property you can do whatever you want with it except of course copy it.
Click to expand...
His point is that Apple doesn't want to make it easy to modify and neither do car makers.

nplima said:
Shortcut key:

"Windows" key + M
Click to expand...
Windows + D is more of a comparison.

MUCKYFINGERS said:
I keep hearing people spew out the Spyware and Malware arguments, but honestly, if you have some idea of what you're doing, it won't be a problem for you and your windoze box.
Click to expand...
That's hardly an arugment. Everyone knows that not having to deal with viruses or malware/spyware is better than having to buy or use a free program that protects you.

MUCKYFINGERS said:
Resource hogging? There aren't apps in OS X that resource hog? Firefox is just as much as a resource hog in XP as it is in OS X. And I am sure I can think of more too.
Click to expand...
Sure there are but those that are hogs generally aren't native to OS X.

MUCKYFINGERS said:
And the whole analogy of the $10 hooker vs $300 hooker was not only unecessary and disgusting, but also brought down the quality of this thread. >.>
Click to expand...
I thought that fit just about perfectly. It got the point across didn't it?
 
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