Maximize shortcut?

R

RobinS

robins
So many times I open a window and it doesn't open to fill the screen because OS X in its lofty know-it-all attitude deems it unnecessary as it seems to think it has an all-knowing grasp on my future window size needs. Of course as soon as I start working in that window that is big enough to show my info, I do something else in that window and I either have to use the scroll bars or drag the upper left hand corner to the top and bottom right hand corner to the bottom. This happens many, many times a day.

In Windows the shortcut Alt+Spacebar+X instantly enlarges the window to its largest dimensions.

Isn't there any command that does this in OS X? The green button sometimes does it, but often doesn't, making it bigger, but not as large as it could be.

There must be a keyboard command that does this frequently needed service.

Or at least an app that does it?

Of all the illogical aspects (and there are hundreds) of OS X, this has got to be the most tedious and time wasting.

 
There are many (operating system) camps - Windoze is one and Macintosh is another.

The way the MacOS zooms a window is not illogical, but in accordance with the Graphic User Interface guidelines - for that operating system (although Apple does not necessarily follow them either ...).

Do not expect a one for one action on the Mac, as is on a Windoze running PC; or visa versa. Accept the operations of each operating system as they are, and learn the needed steps to produce your desired results - accordingly.
 
The purpose of the green button is to enlarge the window to be as big as the content, stopping at the edges of the screen, of course.

So, theoretically, say you're working with a 9 page Excel Spreadsheet, 3 pages by 3 pages, at full size, and you click the green button, it SHOULD go fullscreen. (without covering the dock)
 
barhar said:
There are many (operating system) camps - Windoze is one and Macintosh is another.

The way the MacOS zooms a window is not illogical, but in accordance with the Graphic User Interface guidelines - for that operating system (although Apple does not necessarily follow them either ...).

Do not expect a one for one action on the Mac, as is on a Windoze running PC; or visa versa. Accept the operations of each operating system as they are, and learn the needed steps to produce your desired results - accordingly.
Click to expand...
I would second this, but also agree with the person who posted the initial question. I wish there were a shortcut, just in case I wanted the window maxed out, and didn't want to click-and-drag. I think something like a memory would be nice, too, where you could save your ideal window size to a preference somewhere, for each application, and use a standard keyboard shortcut to execute the command. This would require developers to all support this standard, and would require the app to write to a preference file (it's own would work).

If one never used a Windows computer before, the lack of this feature wouldn't be noticeable. While I agree that we should not expect each OS to do what the other does (or, hey, my Mac would be crashing more often than it does, which is almost never), I also think that certain features, of both operating systems, are good, and this includes Windows. Just because it's not really secure, and WinXP looks like a skin on top of Win95, and it uses a system registry, doesn't mean that Microsoft has zero to add to the discussion. I just think Apple does it better most of the time, and I'm willing to complain about missing features, never get them, and still use a Mac, because I still like the experience.
 
The smart designer extracts the best of both worlds to constantly improve his product. Pride, ego, history.....has no influence. Of course Windows does many things better - but Windows is insecure and prone to instability. It will never change til Bill or others at the top demand better. Or leave. I'm sure Linux does many things better than either. Pride is the enemy here. There is no earthly, logical, remotely conceivable reason why there shouldn't be a quick, effortless keyboard shortcut to instantly make the window fill the screen in OS X. Likewise the many commands that change between apps is absurd. (Why doesn't Enter open files in Finder? What is Command+Arrow down? Utter stupidity. Why rename with Enter? Why not let the user pick? Why not let new OS X people use F2 like Windows so people migrating over don't have to learn one more useless command? Why is Command/Alt and Option reversed? Yes this can be reversed, but why not just have a Windows type skin? Why not have a normal app like Windows Explorer built in...probably the best part of Windows....instead of having to buy Pathfinder? Finder majorly sucks. Those stupid columns that can't remember anything, that can't resize to fit the widest named file/folder in Column view, that won't allow more than 40% of the screen width for names in List view...I could go on for days on this pitiful program's gross deficiencies.

I wonder if there are legal issues here.....if Microsoft could sue Apple for making the OS look too similiar?

Why not just use each for its strengths? An online machine that runs most apps = OS X. An offline machine for gaming and business apps not available on OS X = Windows. Both joined with a KVM switch, or better yet, have a monitor for each so one can monitor activity on each system and just use the KVM for the USB keyboard and mouse. The Mac can be the creative side, the Windows can be the technical/business side. If they could figure out how to switch just between hard drives, one machine might be able to run both OS's concurrently. Or maybe even on the same hard drive? Wouldn't that be amazing.

Why? Pride................that's why. And perhaps some legal issues too. Not sure about that though.

And price the software reasonably, flood the P2P networks with bogus OS files so buying it new is a no brainer. Encouraging help sites like this and Usenet to educate the public would work wonders too.

When Apple sellss a 15 cent DVD for $129, that's got to be a rather great profit model. So why not just focus on the OS? Aperture, Safari, Finder, iTunes (ok - its a money maker but the player sucks), and on and on.....so many mediocre programs that are bettered so easily with 3rd party apps.

Imagine Apple focusing on that huge profit margin and get out of the computer hardware business totally......imagine an Intel machine with a $100 motherboard, a $100 cpu and everything else the same as a Windows machine? Imagine the volume they would sell? Imagine if every PC store started selling OS X? And why wouldn't they? They both have a purpose. Sure Apple could sell their iPods and other toys to boost profits. Go for it. Just don't waste time on apps that are losers. The OS is a winner. Stick with that. Unless someone is braindead in math, a quick computation assures the consumer they are being royally taken to the cleaners when they buy a Mac computer. Think....only the motherboard and cpu are different. Everything else is PC compatible. Now going Intel is closing that gap. How much longer should Apple expect the lobotamized buyer to continue to pay $1000 more for a $200 mb/cpu combo?
 
And also......why are the vast majority of OS X users so utterly complacent over these obvious shortcomings? If the public demanded more logic, the company would have to deliver. Its really our fault this OS isn't far better.
 
lol... I see we've gotten off-topic here....

The reality is, the mentality behind the Mac's "zoom" button is that it shows you as much of the window as you need to in order to view all of the window's contents. The Mac OS is centered around the idea that you can multitask, and easily see other windows behind it, letting you click them and bring them to the front. Why bother having all that blank space?
So, as much as most Mac users prefer the way the Mac works, there are still quite a few switchers who are peeved. And I have to admit, there are rare times when I would find it convenient, too.

I believe there are some AppleScripts that will stretch the window to its maximum for you... also, I think QuicKeys does this.... might want to look into QuickKeys.
 
if you dislike apple that much, why use it? if windows is that much better for your needs, then use it. i am a big mac fan, and wish windows was more like aqua. but its not, and when i use win xp, i shift mental gears and get going. i guess i'm a freak or somthing, because i have never had these kinds of problems. when useing win, i don't wish for aqua, and when using aqua i don't wish of win.
as far as win security, i have never had any problems. i keep it up to date, and control what i do and where i go on the web. i know ie has holes, so i use netscape. i don't goto the kind of web sites that are know for installing things, and only download from trusted sites. by using common sence, i have gone for over 6 months with out having any malware show up on my computer, and have never had a major malware on my win pc ever.
as far as shortcuts, have you looked in mac help yet? all the finder short cuts are listed there, and i seem to remember that at one thime there was a shortcut to do as you wished, but i don'r remember because i have never had need to use it, i just click the green button and go on my merry way. and i love the finder, always have. it works so well for me. i use iphoto to organize photos, itunes for my music, put movies in the movies folder, and my documents in the folder of the same name. i download things to a folder titled downloads and so on. if you give your folders discriptive names, and keep it simple, with out making folders to deep, the finder can be a very quick and effictive means of finding files. <gets off soapbox>
 
as far as i can tell, the green button changes the window to something you didn't want, and then if you press it again, it changes again to something even further from what you originally wanted. having said that, it does add balance to the red/yellow/green thing they have going on.
 
I guess I'm on the fence in this regard. While I do agree that the app should only zoom to the exact size necessary to view everything (as has always been the case with the Mac OS), there are certain areas where I think the full screen zoom is desired. One case would be web browsing. I actually like how Camino opens all the way up to cover the majority of the screen (while not covering the Dock). This allows me to use the maximum space I want for browsing (since that's all I'm going to do at the moment), while still having the little space at the bottom where I can drag files to the desktop if need be. Firefox also does this to a degree, but instead leaves about 25% of the desktop available on the right side of the screen for drag-and-drop usage.

Safari drives me nuts in that it only goes the size of the website. This is a great design concept, but it's not for everyone.

I remember back in Mac OS Classic that holding down the Option key while clicking on the mazimize button forced the window to cover the entire screen, while just clicking on it made it zoom as much as it needed to in order to display the contents properly. This is a function I REALLY miss in OS X and I hope they reimplement. Choice is good, and Apple is not giving me the choice in this regard.
 
sinclair_tm said:
if you dislike apple that much, why use it? if windows is that much better for your needs, then use it.
Click to expand...


No kidding. It never ceases to amaze. It's one thing to wish a change or two, or to recognize that something on another OS may actually be better...but to get so angry, so pissed...when the solution is perfectly clear:

Go back to Windows. No harm, no foul.


I vehemently dislike the sound Stevie Wonder. I don't rant and rave about how he should incorporate/adopt the sound of Billy Corrigan and how he is a vain, prideful slacker for not doing so. I simply don’t listen to him. Problem solved.

And before the apologists come out of the wood work, it’s one thing to ask for help and guidance. It’s another to be swinging wildly while doing so.
 
lbj said:
I vehemently dislike the sound Stevie Wonder. I don't rant and rave about how he should incorporate/adopt the sound of Billy Corrigan and how he is a vain, prideful slacker for not doing so. I simply don’t listen to him. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

You flaming libertarian! What the hell is this "live and let live" kind of crap you're talking about?!? You're supposed to force your opinions and style of doing things down everybodys' throats whether they like it or not!

:D
 
It'd help us understand your problem (and why it's a problem) if you told us which app you needed in Full screen.


There's a big reason why full-screen maximising doesn't work for Mac users, and that's the fact that there's no Taskbar. Which, I'm sure you'll understand, we're all more than happy about. It means, though, that when we're switching between windows, we just... pick the other window by clicking on it. If there's a lot open, we use Exposé. It's a different view on multitasking.


People who are used to the Windows way of doing things, like yourself, come by every so often, and are regularly unwilling to change their habits to the new way of doing things before demonising them as bizarre and uncalled-for.


Case in point: your problem with Return (not Enter) being used for rename. The way it's been for close to 20 years on this platform. Why is it more logical that the "F2" button be used for rename? On laptops, F2 is the brightness-up control. Should we all have to use Fn+F2 just to do something that we're more than happy doing in the current way.

Cmd+Down/Up are clever shortcuts that I wish Windows had for browsing the file system. If you don't like Cmd+Down, use the "Open" shortcut (Cmd+O) instead, which works just as well. It's just a matter of training yourself to do something differently.


If you want Explorer and you want all its features, plus you want Windows' windowing APIs, you should be using Windows. If you spend all your time fighting with the customs of the Mac OS, you'll be even less productive than you were on Windows. You have to be open to a new way of doing things.

The Finder, however, is a sore point for a lot of Mac users (particularly switchers). There is no real reason I can think of that we don't have a "Cut" command in the Finder, and it's annoying, sure, but our Spring-Loaded folders make light work of it anyway, and it doesn't slow me down that much. And, as you mentioned, if you want an alternative, PathFinder does what you want. But that's not the only alternative:

http://ragesw.com/products/explorer.html - A Mac clone of Windows Explorer (or thereabouts)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/javaexplorer/ - A Java Explorer with all kinds of Windows-ish features, including MDI.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15777 - An implementation of the Windows Taskbar for OS X.
http://krugazor.free.fr/software/desinstaller/DesInstaller.php - An uninstaller if you just can't handle dragging things to the Trash yourself (actually a pretty nifty tool).


Let us all know if there are any other things you'd like to know. It's important to think about *what* you want to do, not *how* you want to do it.
If you have an enormous 30" display, and you're used to viewing your emails and web-sites in full-screen on it, don't look for a way to do the same on OS X. Instead, be willing to bend to the OS X way of doing things. The MDI is not a well-liked technology on this side of the fence.
 
sinclair_tm said:
if you dislike apple that much, why use it? if windows is that much better for your needs, then use it. i am a big mac fan, and wish windows was more like aqua. but its not, and when i use win xp, i shift mental gears and get going. i guess i'm a freak or somthing, because i have never had these kinds of problems. when useing win, i don't wish for aqua, and when using aqua i don't wish of win.
as far as win security, i have never had any problems. i keep it up to date, and control what i do and where i go on the web. i know ie has holes, so i use netscape. i don't goto the kind of web sites that are know for installing things, and only download from trusted sites. by using common sence, i have gone for over 6 months with out having any malware show up on my computer, and have never had a major malware on my win pc ever.
as far as shortcuts, have you looked in mac help yet? all the finder short cuts are listed there, and i seem to remember that at one thime there was a shortcut to do as you wished, but i don'r remember because i have never had need to use it, i just click the green button and go on my merry way. and i love the finder, always have. it works so well for me. i use iphoto to organize photos, itunes for my music, put movies in the movies folder, and my documents in the folder of the same name. i download things to a folder titled downloads and so on. if you give your folders discriptive names, and keep it simple, with out making folders to deep, the finder can be a very quick and effictive means of finding files. <gets off soapbox>
Click to expand...
Thought I understand the basic point of your post, it's doesn't really answer the question that was asked by the person to whom you replied. The fact is, Windows Explorer is very powerful, and extremely useful. Something like it on the Mac would be nice, even if it's just another view that you have to switch to. Maximize is also useful, at times, and the user of a Mac should have the option (the point the previous post was making). I tend to agree with this, because there are times when I don't want the OS determining how much room I need to work. If I want the window big, I want it big. No questions. A keyboard shortcut, or preference for the Zoom button would be fine. No need to add extra graphical elements. Others have mentioned the lack of a cut command in the Finder. I agree with this. Most people say, "Cut would not work because when you cut something, it disappears, and then, if you decide to not paste it, or cut something else, the first thing is gone." My reply is, "Oh my God! Whatever will we do about such a huge problem? I don't know...maybe look at the way it's done in Windows and borrow from that? How about creating a clipboard that holds many things (a history, if you will), so you can go grab whatever you cut later?" The fact is, I see so many people, rather than admitting that some things could/should be added to the Mac OS, saying, "You don't need that, and that's why it isn't there. If you needed it, it would be there." It's all BS. (And that last few sentences are not directed at the person to whom I am replying. They were directed at no one, just at previous posts from a few months ago.)

The cut command brings me to my real point, if there is one...
Many Mac users say, "Why do you need that? I just blah, blah blah, and it gets done. It works for me, so you must be stupid/lazy/uneducated/etc."

The fact is, there are better features on Windows, and on the Mac. If Apple were to steal a bit from Microsoft, I wouldn't complain. A better file browsing solution, cut/paste support, and maximize for windows would be nice. Do you have to have it? Maybe not. Can you get by without it? Probably, without issue. That's not the point. The point is that certain things improve the user experience, and one should not leave them out simply because what we have is "good enough". Good enough doesn't cut it for long enough.

I'm sure that, prior to the column display in Finder, if someone would have asked for it, there would have been people saying, "You don't need that. The point of such and such is blah, blah, blah." The point of whatever we are talking about is that the user should have the options. If you choose not to use them, fine. (Someone will now post something like, "The Mac is designed to get things done with the fewest options so that users are not overwhelmed." Fair enough. I agree with that. What I don't agree with is the lack of additional preferences that most users will never see anyway. Those of us who want them can have them, and those who do not, don't have to use them. Then, everyone is happy, and it only took small number of lines of code to get it done.)
 
ya, i know it really doesn't apply to the first question, but it is directed more to their second post, ranting on how they switched, but are unhappy with lack of some windows features. being i use both platforms all the time, i also feel like that it would be really nice that some features would goto the other platform, but i know that it will most likely not, so i ajust what i do on the platform and move on. it just i get so tired of people that switch, and then complain all the time about what os x is missing, instead of enjoying what they have gained. if they want to do that, they should do it in the opinons section, not in the help section.

as far as the cut command, i don't use it in windows, and even when there was one in the finder, way back in the day, i never used it then. i have seen people use it, and see why they would like it, but it doesn't work in my filing style. i'd reather drag the doc/app/folder to the new location instead of cut and paste. probly has to do with the fact that i'm a visual type person.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top