remapping minimize button?

I'm sure there's a way. I installed (and registered, BTW) WindowShade X. It allows you to map 4 things to the minimize button: true windowshading, make window transparent, minimize to dock, or hide that window's application.

I don't know if you want the whole application to hide, but that might be an option. Also, how is "hiding" different from minimizing it to the Dock? If it is truly hidden, you wouldn't be able to press the button again to unhide it!
 
Thanks, that looks great. I really am looking to hide on a per-window basis, but not sure OS X can even do that. The difference from minimizing is that it doesn't go to another icon in the Dock. It stays within the app's icon, so I can unhide it from the app's context menu in the Dock. Make sense?
 
So basically remove the window from displaying anywhere except for the contextual menu of the application's icon... I think I understood what you said. :)
 
Exactly. 'hide', but not every window of an app, just individual windows. And if, for example, there are three IE windows open and however many are hidden, if I select one of them from the app's Dock context menu, I don't need ALL of them coming back! I would basically love to see more control over individual windows.
 
Hazmat has the right idea. I wrote Apple requesting this months ago. It makes absolutely no sense to minimize applications and take up another precious dock slot. I own a new iBook and an iMac, so I obviously don't have a lot of screen real estate to waste. Windows XP uses the context menu idea and though I have not used it, I feel in theory it makes for a more elegant and useful solution. Write in your complaints everyone.
 
Ah, but if you hid them you wouldn't get to see the contents of the window in the dock. You'd have a boring factual text label pop out from the program icon. How is Steve going to demo that during a keynote? No, it's much cooler to have a 4 pixel x 4 pixel movie playing in the dock. Steve likes it, it's staying.
 
Functionality isn't always pretty. :)

Then leave minimize alone, and make that silly toolbar collapse button on the right side of some windows' title bars hide it. Or make an option in System Prefs to make that button either minimize or hide. Kind of like the two appearance schemes. One is all colorful and the other is more professional and toned down.
 
I know the exact thinking why Apple won't do this.

Too many options that would confuse new users. Allowing to set custom options for items that one would expect to always do what they expect it to do is potentialy very confusing for a new or even average mild user.

Most of us here on this board are comfortable to say the least with going so fa as to mess with .rsrc files so naturaly having the option to arbitrariliy change a buttons meaning seems trivial to us.

Ideas like this are always best left to 3rd party add ons and not part of the OS. This way a pure OS does what it is "expected" to do... for a power users it's no big deal to add software that over-rides a default action. As new users become familiar with the ways to customize and alter the functionality of the OS they won't get so confused when they install something they are aware should alter the way the OS works.

make sense?
 
:) I never said the idea isn't a good one ;-) just the rationale apple uses when deciding on what to do and not to do.

I personaly installed Windowshade and have the minimize button set to hide... have had it this way since the utility came out... and will never change back.

cheers
 
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