maybe some people just like the immersion and centralized visual and mental focus they have on one app instead of seeing desktop icons, background wallpaper, and other app windows floating about

is that such a bad thing?

that being said, i use the best-fit technique 99% of the time anyway.. just thought i'd stick up for the poor girl with the 15-inch powerbook who may or may not be hot and i vote that this be the topic of discussion from here on in

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I like to have the page fit zoom and take up as much space as possible. I like Word BIG.

That's a LOT of stuff you have in your dock there!

MySpace users shouldn't be allowed to own Macs.

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Thank you! I've been trying to tell people for ages!

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Normally I wouldn't take the time to vehemently disagree with an opinion column.

But.

This column is retarded. Re. Tard. Ed.

I maximize my windows because I like to. If I am in Safari, I want to focus on Safari. If I am editing code in BBEdit, that's all I want to see.

But d'ya know what? A simple command-tab, and I am switching between my screen-maximized apps in a flashy flash!

Everyone's entitled to his own opinion, and if said person has posting privileges on a high-profile Mac blog, so much the better.

But in this case: wrong, wrong, wrong.

IMHO.

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I personally always maximize. It is much easier to push Apple-Tab to switch between programs then it is to grab the mouse, drag it to the app you want and click it. Personally the other stuff would distract me and I don't really care to see my desktop icons or wallpaper. But to each his own. I see nothing wrong with what this girl is doing.

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I guess I'm weird, but the one thing I've always liked better about Windows (yes, there is one thing. Oh wait, I also like being able to delete files from an Open/Save dialog box...) is the full-screen nature of applications. I guess it just better fits my natural urge to resist clutter (i.e. dragging windows all over the screen). If I want to switch from Safari to Word, for example, what could be easier than a quick Command-Tab or Expos?br>
So don't think of it as "wasted" space - think of it as "uncluttered" space.

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Guilty as charged

So why does TUAW only take up 800 (is it?) pixels wide - even though loads of people have at least 1024x768 displays?

Is it because mac people use this 'best fit' button?

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Wait, I thought the point of having resizable windows was so the user could determine that the size of the window that *they* want, no matter how ridiculous to another user.

Sorry, I'll do it your way from now on!

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I maximize everything so that I'm not distracted, and I use expose to get from one thing to another. That way I can't see that I'm getting email, or somebody's IMing me, or that there's something else I can play with.

I vote for lack of hotness otherwise this post would not have existed. If she was, would you have paid attention to what was on the screen?

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Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for saying this. It's the single most annoying thing about watching recent switchers use OS X. That screen real-estate is useful! Plus, drag and drop support on OS X is amazing, but you can only take advantage of it if you can see where you want to drop.

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I alway maximise exvery application. However I use Desktop Manager to allow me to have 8 workspaces. I only ever have one application per workspace.

It's clutter free. Task Focused. Free and one thing I couldn't do without.

http://desktopmanager.berlios.de/

I am not affiliated in any way with the author of DM. I just like it.

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I think Mr. David Chartier has his own problems to worry about...

http://www.emblym.com/downloads/uploads/space.jpg

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Stridey: grab what you want to drag and drop, drag it to the top-left corner (if you have that corner set for Expos? select a window, and drop it.

You may have known about this already. But I love it, and it allows me to keep my programs maximized, as I prefer for many of the reasons listed above.

(And I'm not a switcher. I've never used anything but Macs, since 1980something.)

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David, Stridey, why do you people care how others use their computers? If it's your mom and dad, and they're constantly asking for help, sure, tell 'em how you'd do it. But as a bunch of folks here have pointed out, sometimes you only want one thing to be on the screen. I sure do, if I'm typing a paper, so it makes sense to huge-ify the Word window. And you may have noticed a lot of folks love the idea of a text editor with full-screen mode. I use Hide Others a lot, but I also wound up using a boring gray desktop background. So to each her own, jerks.

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I always work in fullscreen mode in Photoshop and Illustrator, and fill the screen with my document in InDesign. When working with details, I need the immersion of fullscreen. It makes me more thorough and precise.

However, I don't see the need to use the whole screen for Mail, Safari, or anything where I'm only reading or editing text.

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Boo to you sir! If I want to multitask I will use expose... LONG LIVE FULL SCREEN WINDOWS!!!!!








**but stop hiding the G.D. dock**

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No! No no *no*

Please stop trying to inflict your own personal views of usability on others.

For many people, a maximised window provides higher productivity and easier use simply because there's less distractions on screen. For web browsing, wider windows also mean less scrolling.

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When using my Mac I do like to keep a little part of the screen showing through. Maximised windows on a 20" screen is very excessive. However, I do tend to use Expose to switch between windows when I'm browsing with instant messaging open. Widescreen and multi-tasking is indeed a blessing that seems to be sweeter on the Mac than on Windows, but then again so is Expose. If I do it on a 20" Mac, then I'd do it on a 15" iBook without a second thought.

If I saw a girl using a Mac anywhere, I'd probably congratulate her in my head, not bitch about how she was using it. Everyone has their own way of using their computer, and I think it promotes diversity in an opperating system. It's wonderful to use someone else's computer and discovering all the idiosyncracies that have developed as the machine has adapted to use of it's owner.
To ignore this is to be ignorant and intollerant. To presume that the way you use your machine is the one true way is just down-right patronising.

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When I switched to my first Mac almost two years ago, at first I felt a little disconcerted by the fact that the window wasn't easily maximized. After about a day or two of playing around, I realized that the screen had a wide aspect ratio for a good reason. In fact, I got a second monitor to expand on that information.

While I can easily understand why people would want to maximize their windows, I personally feel it makes more 'sense' to have multiple things all visible simultaneously. Generally, I've got Safari or Word (or some other large window) on the left side of my screen while smaller things like Adium or Terminal go on the right side. My second screen is generally reserved for things I don't need to look at very often like Calendar, iTunes and occasionally Activity Monitor.

Best use for the wide aspect: citations in research papers. Command+Tab isn't hard by any means, but I'd rather exchange the appearance of cleanliness for utility.

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This is just silly. Just because you say that it's the right way doesn't mean everyone has to hold that opinion.

Newsflash: People are different. They think differently. They act differently. They like different things.

Your comment has about as much merit as telling someone, "If the coffee place wanted you to use sugar, they would have put it in there for you. Sure, they offer you a way to get some sugar with those primitive sugar packets but honestly, there's a reason it's so hard to walk over to the sugar packet station, rip the packaging open, put the sugar in, and stir the coffee - they don't want you to do it!"

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