Another possible explanation for the penchant of many users (esp. non-technical ones) to run everything "maximized": Most non-technical users have only ever se

Another possible explanation for the penchant of many users (esp. non-technical ones) to run everything "maximized": Most non-technical users have only ever seen and used MS Windows. MS Windows has always had atrocious overlapping windows management features as compared to Unix X11 window managers. So most non-technical users never really learned to use multiple, overlapping, onscreen windows at the same time. The one 'window management' feature that is directly visible to a non-technical MS Windows user is the task bar, and then its (the task bar's) only feature they see is "raise to top". Applying a bit of "if the only tool you have is a hammer, all your problems start to look like nails" mentality, and it becomes easier for a non-technical user to simply hit the MS Windows "maximize" button on every window that opens for any applications they use (after which most MS Windows apps remember and auto-maximize the next time they launch) and then use "the hammer" they have (task bar with "raise this window to top" tool) to simply pop an already full screen window up when needed, then pop up another one when that one is needed, etc. Plus, from their viewpoint, this provides a "less distracting" work-space since only the thing of interest is in view at any given moment. Couple this with a bit of "follow the leader", or in this case, someone else they've observed, or possibly from the trainer who maximized not because he/she wanted to, but because the 800x600 projector of the day was too small to demo anything with overlapping windows and we have non-technical users who all start running everything maximized.