This is what u all folks need 
A sharp little app Show Desktop, free one !
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7520
A sharp little app Show Desktop, free one !http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7520
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Show Desktop Button
- Thread starter Dynamyk
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because expose is already a feature on OS X. it has a function you can add to a key stroke to show the desktop.
why would you use a stand alone program if you can have all windows be hidden with "Hide Others" or with expose's show desktop feature.
navigating to the dock would lose a lot of time and be extremely annoying to someone trying to be productive.
you could also create a space for finder... that way no matter what you have open you could just press (modifier of your choice)+(space # of your choice)
use expose. i have the bottom right hot corner to show desktop. it just makes sense for it to be in that position i think.
im using expose anyway but i can see point in using show desktop app too. sometimes when you are working and got loads of windows open and u wanna leave ur mac running u just press small icon in ur status bar and all get hidden. expose hide all apps but when you go back to ur defined hot corner it will bring ur apps back. using show desktop app prevent this from happening unless you right click it and choose show all option.
im a student living in a shared house and quite a few people use my computer just to change music or chack email, cos it is one 24h/day . i dont want them to mess with some other stuff i am working on so i prefer to hide everything with show desktop app and if they need to use itunes they can just choose it from dock. if expose was used in this case sombody could delete by accident half of essay or see code of my latest iphone future-best-selling app
im a student living in a shared house and quite a few people use my computer just to change music or chack email, cos it is one 24h/day . i dont want them to mess with some other stuff i am working on so i prefer to hide everything with show desktop app and if they need to use itunes they can just choose it from dock. if expose was used in this case sombody could delete by accident half of essay or see code of my latest iphone future-best-selling app
im using expose anyway but i can see point in using show desktop app too. sometimes when you are working and got loads of windows open and u wanna leave ur mac running u just press small icon in ur status bar and all get hidden. expose hide all apps but when you go back to ur defined hot corner it will bring ur apps back. using show desktop app prevent this from happening unless you right click it and choose show all option.
im a student living in a shared house and quite a few people use my computer just to change music or chack email, cos it is one 24h/day . i dont want them to mess with some other stuff i am working on so i prefer to hide everything with show desktop app and if they need to use itunes they can just choose it from dock. if expose was used in this case sombody could delete by accident half of essay or see code of my latest iphone future-best-selling app
sounds like you need to create another account
if i switch to another space and one of my mates want to use say itunes and chooses it from dock it still brings up all the open app to the new space which takes me back to the initial issue.
i dont need to have more accounts, not like im afraid of my mates. just want to avoid accidental problems and show desktop app works just fine for me.
sys preff
dock
minimize using (drop down) scale effect, deselect animate opening applications
back to sys preff
expose and spaces
expose
actice screen corners
pick a corner, select desktop.
i personally have it in the bottm right, as show all windows is top right and bottom left is dashboard, top left is just annoying to put something there as when you got to the menu's in programs you might hit it.
dock
minimize using (drop down) scale effect, deselect animate opening applications
back to sys preff
expose and spaces
expose
actice screen corners
pick a corner, select desktop.
i personally have it in the bottm right, as show all windows is top right and bottom left is dashboard, top left is just annoying to put something there as when you got to the menu's in programs you might hit it.
it took me like five seconds to show all my friends and even my mom what and how epose and spaces works, then love it.
Thats pretty much how i have it. makes most sense in my brain. except for top left is sleep display
I still find it amazing how many people will minimize every single window on Windows instead of using the Show Desktop Button..! As for the Mac, I much prefer Expose. The 4 finger swipe gesture is so useful. Much easier than having to move the cursor and click.
I actually agree.
I am using Logitech Revolution MX mouse, I set the thumb wheel to do Expose and Space,
push forward will Show Desktop, push backward will Show Applications, click the wheel will activate Space.
Get a good mouse will make your daily computing task much easier.
Windowskey+M is also built-in to XP and Vista. Can't remember how it was in '98.
you cant be serious? there are so many options.
1. spaces
2. apple + tab
3. apple + h (hides)
4. magic mouse + BetterTouchTool.app - custom key/swipe/gesture to hide window
5. minimise
etcetc
all are within a reasonable amount of time
Here are some resources for learning more about Mac OS X:
Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios
Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios
Last edited by a moderator:
you cant be serious? there are so many options.
1. spaces
2. apple + tab
3. apple + h (hides)
4. magic mouse + BetterTouchTool.app - custom key/swipe/gesture to hide window
5. minimise
etcetc
all are within a reasonable amount of time
honestly, i think the best set up is to have a hot corner set up to show the desktop (system prefs->expose&spaces->expose->active corners) personally, i use the bottom-right corner.
with that setup, i'll often be working in an app then go to the corner, pick up a file, mouse to the corner again, drop into the app.. it's literally a 1 second operation once you get used to it. (or 1/10 of a second operation if you're just trying to get to the desktop
)another thing you could do is put your desktop folder in the dock.. that's super easy access to the desktop files as well.
honestly, i think the best set up is to have a hot corner set up to show the desktop (system prefs->expose&spaces->expose->active corners) personally, i use the bottom-right corner.
with that setup, i'll often be working in an app then go to the corner, pick up a file, mouse to the corner again, drop into the app.. it's literally a 1 second operation once you get used to it. (or 1/10 of a second operation if you're just trying to get to the desktop
another thing you could do is put your desktop folder in the dock.. that's super easy access to the desktop files as well.
great suggestions! they all work well too - the fastest ive found is the magic mouse + custom gesture option, because the finger only has to move a few mm to reach the middle of the mouse. but hey, whatever works
oh, and hey..
anyone remember the expose blob?
i know it's been on a computer of mine before but i can't remember if it was a system pref, some sort of terminal activation, or a 3rd party app.
it was a blue blob that sat on screen and would activate 'all windows' (i think) when clicked on..
aside from how it arrived on my computer, i remember it wasn't too cool and removed it immediately
[edit] ha, here's a link that talks about it.
http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/tutorials/expose-blob/index.shtml
it was around the panther days when i messed with it and i'm not sure if it still works in snow leopard.. and honestly, i don't really want to experiment to find out because i know i'll just remove it anyway
anyone remember the expose blob?
i know it's been on a computer of mine before but i can't remember if it was a system pref, some sort of terminal activation, or a 3rd party app.
it was a blue blob that sat on screen and would activate 'all windows' (i think) when clicked on..
aside from how it arrived on my computer, i remember it wasn't too cool and removed it immediately
[edit] ha, here's a link that talks about it.
http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/tutorials/expose-blob/index.shtml
it was around the panther days when i messed with it and i'm not sure if it still works in snow leopard.. and honestly, i don't really want to experiment to find out because i know i'll just remove it anyway
Do people really not see the difference between "Show Desktop" and the hot corner function, or am I missing something here? Using hot corner to show desktop is great and all, but it still doesn't hide or minimize all the windows - as soon as you open one window, all the other windows pop up as well.
The point of Show Desktop is to clear all the windows and have a clean working space.
The point of Show Desktop is to clear all the windows and have a clean working space.
For me "Show Desktop" works just fine, as the following 600KB .mov video shows: VIDEO
Btw, I used mouse buttons to activate Exposé (Show All Windows) and Show Desktop.
One could also use CMD+SHIFT+H when the Desktop is selected.
Or one could use Spaces and have one Space empty for this case.