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> Window management in OSX is horrible. What is so horrible about it ? I have the exact same reaction every time I have to use Microsoft Windows. Window manage

by Aaargh20318 10y ago

> Window management in OSX is horrible. What is so horrible about it ? I have the exact same reaction every time I have to use Microsoft Windows. Window management is one of the strongpoints of MacOS. > A network drive hangs? Good luck with Finder..., the whole system halts. I've never encountered this problem on both AFP and SMB shares.

specialp 10y ago
Fullscreen mode loses focus constantly with 2 monitors, SMB shares are very slow especially with large amounts of files to be listed. Finder crashes a lot dealing with network filesystems. The search on Finder is extremely bad and doesn't hold a candle to Windows 10 search. I am typing this on a Macbook Pro so I am not some Windows fan. OS X has fallen way behind in its desktop incarnation. The only reason I use OS X is due to its Unix shell for development. I don't think anyone can honestly say that as a GUI OS X is better than recent Windows.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >Fullscreen mode loses focus constantly with 2 monitors I've never lost focus with fullscreen/2 monitors. So?
  - Whitestrake 10y ago
    "I haven't experienced the problem you're talking about, so it must not exist."
kerbalspacepro 10y ago
... on Windows you drag a window to the right and make it 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 the screen. On a Mac dragging the window... drags the window.
- Aaargh20318 10y ago
  I never understood the whole obsession with running applications fullscreen. The whole point of a multitasking OS is to run multiple apps at the same time. If you need to run your apps fullscreen you probably need a bigger monitor.
  - blacksmith_tb 10y ago
    The common use-case is laptop vs. desktop. If you have a 34in. WQHD display, full-screening one app is going to be silly; if you're stuck with the built-in display on an MBP when you're at the cafe, it's much more practical.
  - komali2 10y ago
    For the other perspective - it actually boggles my mind when I see coworkers with one desktop open with 3-4 windows kinda mushed all around, different sizes, etc. Like, you paid a lot of money for that good display, why are you not using it?! How can you stand having to scroll all over a window to see something, when you could just fullscreen it? Is it that they need to context switch quickly? Why not just use multiple desktops, with all fullscreen or at least fully-half-screened apps? I never understood this type of workflow and when I was in school it was everywhere, it's like apple was pushing for people to have little windows strewn out over an otherwise gorgeous display.
    - marssaxman 10y ago
      I am using it, that's the whole point of having multiple windows open. Each window shows whatever is relevant about that context, and it takes up no more space than necessary so I can have as many sources of information visible as I want. Also, it's nice for spacial awareness. I feel a little bit lost when a window takes over the entire screen and blanks everything else out.
      - komali2 10y ago
        Regarding spacial awareness, because I have the same window in a given "desktop" all the time, my spacial awareness is locational. If I'm in my IDE, I know it's 2 desktops to the right to get to my terminals. From there, 3 to the left to get to my company chat. Etc. It's even better in ubuntu because desktop switching isn't just left/right, it's up down. So I can really think geographically. I guess that's just the kind of brain I have - for example, if I want to look for tickets for a movie I want to see, I search "movie theater" in google maps and click the theater in the location I want to go to, then navigate through ticket buying etc. shrug who knows man
- tnones 10y ago
  Click and hold the fullscreen button. Drop window on left or right half. This thread is full of people who insist they want an OS for power users but don't seem willing to find out how to do things.
gabemart 10y ago
> Window management is one of the strongpoints of MacOS. Can you give an example of this? I regularly switch between macos, windows and ubuntu and I have a hard time coming up with much positive to say about macos window management (unless a third-party tool is used).
guelo 10y ago
command-tabbing between apps instead of windows is just wrong imo. You constantly have to keep in mind if the window you're switching to is part of the same app or a different app.
- Qcombinator 10y ago
  The way command-tabbing brings all an application's windows forward always bugged me too. Fortunately, there is LiteSwitch (http://sysbeep.com http://sysbeep.com) that lets you switch to the frontmost window only. While I'm at it, I'll also plug https://manytricks.com/witch https://manytricks.com/witch which I find invaluable for switching between windows and just got an update.
- 72deluxe 10y ago
  Cmd-` lets you switch windows within an application though, as I recall (can't confirm as I'm on Windows at work)
- jakibaki 10y ago
  Hyperswitch (https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch) fixes that perfectly.
flukus 10y ago
Having the menu bar on top is confusing when you've got multiple windows open.

specialp 10y ago

Fullscreen mode loses focus constantly with 2 monitors, SMB shares are very slow especially with large amounts of files to be listed. Finder crashes a lot dealing with network filesystems. The search on Finder is extremely bad and doesn't hold a candle to Windows 10 search. I am typing this on a Macbook Pro so I am not some Windows fan. OS X has fallen way behind in its desktop incarnation. The only reason I use OS X is due to its Unix shell for development. I don't think anyone can honestly say that as a GUI OS X is better than recent Windows.

coldtea 10y ago
>Fullscreen mode loses focus constantly with 2 monitors I've never lost focus with fullscreen/2 monitors. So?
- Whitestrake 10y ago
  "I haven't experienced the problem you're talking about, so it must not exist."

kerbalspacepro 10y ago

... on Windows you drag a window to the right and make it 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 the screen. On a Mac dragging the window... drags the window.

Aaargh20318 10y ago
I never understood the whole obsession with running applications fullscreen. The whole point of a multitasking OS is to run multiple apps at the same time. If you need to run your apps fullscreen you probably need a bigger monitor.
- blacksmith_tb 10y ago
  The common use-case is laptop vs. desktop. If you have a 34in. WQHD display, full-screening one app is going to be silly; if you're stuck with the built-in display on an MBP when you're at the cafe, it's much more practical.
- komali2 10y ago
  For the other perspective - it actually boggles my mind when I see coworkers with one desktop open with 3-4 windows kinda mushed all around, different sizes, etc. Like, you paid a lot of money for that good display, why are you not using it?! How can you stand having to scroll all over a window to see something, when you could just fullscreen it? Is it that they need to context switch quickly? Why not just use multiple desktops, with all fullscreen or at least fully-half-screened apps? I never understood this type of workflow and when I was in school it was everywhere, it's like apple was pushing for people to have little windows strewn out over an otherwise gorgeous display.
  - marssaxman 10y ago
    I am using it, that's the whole point of having multiple windows open. Each window shows whatever is relevant about that context, and it takes up no more space than necessary so I can have as many sources of information visible as I want. Also, it's nice for spacial awareness. I feel a little bit lost when a window takes over the entire screen and blanks everything else out.
    - komali2 10y ago
      Regarding spacial awareness, because I have the same window in a given "desktop" all the time, my spacial awareness is locational. If I'm in my IDE, I know it's 2 desktops to the right to get to my terminals. From there, 3 to the left to get to my company chat. Etc. It's even better in ubuntu because desktop switching isn't just left/right, it's up down. So I can really think geographically. I guess that's just the kind of brain I have - for example, if I want to look for tickets for a movie I want to see, I search "movie theater" in google maps and click the theater in the location I want to go to, then navigate through ticket buying etc. shrug who knows man
tnones 10y ago
Click and hold the fullscreen button. Drop window on left or right half. This thread is full of people who insist they want an OS for power users but don't seem willing to find out how to do things.

gabemart 10y ago

> Window management is one of the strongpoints of MacOS. Can you give an example of this? I regularly switch between macos, windows and ubuntu and I have a hard time coming up with much positive to say about macos window management (unless a third-party tool is used).

guelo 10y ago

command-tabbing between apps instead of windows is just wrong imo. You constantly have to keep in mind if the window you're switching to is part of the same app or a different app.

Qcombinator 10y ago
The way command-tabbing brings all an application's windows forward always bugged me too. Fortunately, there is LiteSwitch (http://sysbeep.com http://sysbeep.com) that lets you switch to the frontmost window only. While I'm at it, I'll also plug https://manytricks.com/witch https://manytricks.com/witch which I find invaluable for switching between windows and just got an update.
72deluxe 10y ago
Cmd-` lets you switch windows within an application though, as I recall (can't confirm as I'm on Windows at work)
jakibaki 10y ago
Hyperswitch (https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch) fixes that perfectly.

flukus 10y ago

Having the menu bar on top is confusing when you've got multiple windows open.