Witch

bobw

The Late: SuperMacMod
Witch by Peter Maurer!

Have you ever wanted to switch to a certain window — not just the application it belongs to? While you can use Exposé to switch windows, doing so can be very clumsy if you're the keyboard-only type of user. And don't all of these windows look just the same when they are scaled down?

Witch lets you access all of your windows by pressing a shortcut and choosing from a clearly arranged list of window titles. Moreover, you can use Witch to...

• Directly access minimized windows without using your mouse

• Close minimized windows without bringing them to front first

• Zoom, de-/minimize, and close windows on the fly

Review from RobG at macosxhints

Witch is a full-blown enhanced Command-Tab switcher, with a ton of additional features. Instead of merely switching apps, you can switch directly to a window within an application. You can set hot keys to switch between windows in various spots: all applications, only minimized, non-minimized, frontmost app, frontmost app minimized, and frontmost app non-minimized.

After installing and activating Witch, you can now manage minimized windows with a hotkey. Press your chosen key combo, and your minimized windows will appear in a fully customizable pop-up (font size, colors, shadows, or choose from some pre-created settings). Select the window you wish to de-minimize, and it slides out of the dock, ready for use. You can also do things like add a "Cancel" item in case you change your mind, or an "Activation" item, so Witch can activate faceless background apps. The window list can be sorted by the application's name, launch order, "last use order," or by the window activity order (which will actually inter-leave application names, based on how you've been using the various open windows).

Witch isn't perfect, mainly due to some OS X limitations. First, applications that draw windows in non-standard ways (such as Circus Ponies' Notebook) don't show in the switcher. Second, if you have hidden an application, and that application does *not* have any minimized windows, then it will also not show in the switcher. If it's hidden with a minimized window, though, it will. Since I primarily use Witch to manage minimized windows, these limitations don't bother me too much -- and I love the convenience of unminimizing a window from a pop-up list. It's about 100 times faster than the old "visit the dock and scroll" method, and means I'm actually using minimize again as a means of organizing my workflow.


http://www.petermaurer.de/nasi.php?thema=witch&sprache=english
 
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