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how to tile 2 windows side-by-side on screen?

A

auyongtc

macrumors member
Original poster
Newbie question.. especially useful on the widescreen monitors nowadays... say 2 windows/apps like 2 documents... how to tile them side-by-side - much like what people do with dual monitor setups... ?

I know in Windows it's just by selecting both windows and then right click the taskbar and select Tile Windows Horizontally/Vertically... but since I've moved to Mac, how does it work in Tiger?
 
I don't think a similar feature exists in Tiger, but maybe someone more knowledgeable will come along and correct me. I don't ever use that particular feature of Windows, so it's never caught my eye in Tiger. I use Expose much more. I see how if you worked with multiple documents open at once that you need to watch all the time, that the Windows tiling would be helpful.
 
Well... depending on the type of work, having tiled windows really does improve productivity, imagine lesser Expose usage for 2 things that you refer to back-to-back.

With Apple moving into an all-widescreen display range, this should be an integral feature on the OS. Perhaps someone here in this forum have a clue.
 
Nice question auyongtc. If there is a way to do this I'd like to know as well. I often have an article open alongside my word document to use whilst writing. I've always just gone to the trouble to arrange the windows manually but it'd be great to do it automatically.
 
so this is one feature that was in Windoze *cough* that never caught on in Apple? Geez... really no one have a ready solution?

Perhaps I'll get to developing something for this, when I've learned up on Mac programming...
 
auyongtc said:
so this is one feature that was in Windoze *cough* that never caught on in Apple? Geez... really no one have a ready solution?
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of the requirement that Apple should replicate Windows features. Geez...Is it that difficult to move/resize the windows with your mouse?
 
kingjr3 said:
I wasn't aware of the requirement that Apple should replicate Windows features. Geez...Is it that difficult to move/resize the windows with your mouse?
Click to expand...

Apple should not replicate Windows features, but useful features. It doesn't really matter where they are taken from. Or is it that you just got a problem with admitting that there might be something that's a bit better on the other side of the OS river? 😛
 
I agree it could be useful, but I already treat my desktop as a dynamic workspace and I keep rearranging windows to suit my workflow.

Now I'm not saying you have to do it like that, I'm just saying that for me, after I got used to keep moving things, such a feature would just feel more cumbersome.

Here's my current desktop:
 

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kingjr3 said:
I wasn't aware of the requirement that Apple should replicate Windows features.
Click to expand...


Well, they have moved to x86, so the blue screens and terrible memory management may be on the horizon!
 
You guys are going on and on with the OS banters...
and obviously overlooking a productivity reason behind this...

gekko, understand what you mean... my screen's like that too, that's alright when one works with a disparate and unrelated group of applications around the screen.

But imagine (for those of you who don't code or design website or things like that needs this sort of view) when you design or debug some HTML code or something... you'll want easy access to a web browser screen that's just conveniently beside the web design application. Side-by-side comparison. At times like this, people want total concentration on the 2 related apps. Now, if there are other apps in the way (when both apps are not full-screen), it's distracting...

Of course, one would say that we can just minimize all the distracting apps, and pull/rearrange the 2 related app windows to our heart's contents.. but the main reason behind this idea is mainly for productivity sake. And if we're to do it manually, that reduces productivity right?

And it's not about a "Windows" feature, it's a logical feature, that apparently Windows did implement it (though I'd say, 99% of people don't know how to invoke it in the first place).

Mac roxx.. that's why I even think of creating this feature myself..! 🙂
 
auyongtc said:
And it's not about a "Windows" feature, it's a logical feature, that apparently Windows did implement it (though I'd say, 99% of people don't know how to invoke it in the first place).
Click to expand...

I agree the feature would make sense for some of us, especially developers - I too do a lot of software debugging where I'll have my IDE on one side and my software (or browser on another). However, saying its logical and then admitting 1% of people even know the trick contradicts your argument...

Understand, that many people join this site with that newbie under their name and come flaming how OS X sucks because it doesn't have a registry, or Add/Remove Programs control panel, or MS Paint! People just have to realize (or just don't want to believe) that both OSes have features the others wont. So when you start a question with a comment like - "I know Windows can do this, why can't OS X?" Its sets you up for a loud response...

Anyways, remember that apps will open where you last left them, so technically, you would only have to move/resize the application once...ever. Although, I don't know what the behavior is if you leave a dual monitor setup and had left apps in the second monitors area...

Finally, the productivity argument doesn't hold a lot of weight for me. Whats the extra effort going to cost? maybe 5 seconds? Lets say you do it 10 times a day, so you lost a minute of time. I would suggest someone can make up that time by taking a shorter crap, or smoking one less cigarette for the day, or take a minute from your lunch break....That is if you want to nitpick over the one minute of lost productivity...but thats just me.
 
I run into this problem all the time too. Dragging windows and placing them on my widescreen MBP is a pain with the trackpad. It seems like there should be a way to do this quickly, just like Expose. Maybe I can get that script to run, although I know nothing about how to.
 
Number of applications

They are a number of applications out there now that can do that.

I am using TileWindows. It has a half screen mode (left, right, top, bottom) and a quarter screen mode (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right). There is even shortcut keys.
 
Anyone have an update on this using Mavericks?

Really hard to believe this isn't built into the OS after all these years. While I appreciate that third party solutions (e.g. Tileworks mentioned above) deserve compensation for their work I find it objectionable that I have to pay extra for a feature that should be basic and included in the OS.
 
Robisan said:
Really hard to believe this isn't built into the OS after all these years. While I appreciate that third party solutions (e.g. Tileworks mentioned above) deserve compensation for their work I find it objectionable that I have to pay extra for a feature that should be basic and included in the OS.
Click to expand...

The matter of what "should be" included in the OS is strictly in the realm of opinion. Some people bring their likes (and dislikes) from that other OS and think it's a glaring "error" that their Mac can't do something that's "so simple" it's a crime. Really, it was just a choice Apple's software developers made. They do incorporate some things that first appeared on another OS, but more often it seems to me the reverse is true.
 
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