No. I know what got you thinking this, and you're wrong.
Go back and take another look at the patent filling, and *read it*. The Close/Min/Zoom (not Maximize you dweeb) buttons are being made larger when the finger gets near them so they're easier to hit. Then when the finger moves away, they go back to normal. Think Dock Magnification.
No. I know what got you thinking this, and you're wrong.
Go back and take another look at the patent filling, and *read it*. The Close/Min/Zoom (not Maximize you dweeb) buttons are being made larger when the finger gets near them so they're easier to hit. Then when the finger moves away, they go back to normal. Think Dock Magnification.
That's all that was.
That's not exactly what got me thinking it, as i've thought about this before too. I read the patent, but I still believe the size of those buttons is ever so slightly too small. I'm not alone in thinking this either, i've heard a number of peeps saying it, and I don't what a plug-in or mod/hack to fix the issue. I believe Apple should address it. Switchers are more vocal about it.
Not so oddly, zoom isn't for filling the screen; it's for resizing a window to its ideal size. Sadly, many programmers seem incapable at grasping the concept of "ideal size".
For example, if, say, you have a window whose main content is a table, zoom should resize the window in such a way that the entire table contents are visible; if that doesn't fit on screen, it's effectively equivalent with maximize.
When I want a window to fill the screen, I drag... because I *rarely* ever want a window to fill the screen. Ever.
What I *want* is to be able to see the content, but leave a functional UI with drag and drop, etc. Maximize eliminates that, and reduces you to a brain-dead UI where you can only interact with one app at a time. What's the use in that?
If the content fills the screen, it goes full-screen. If it doesn't, then you don't lose the most useful elements of the UI. It's *gasp* intelligently thought out.
And since it's the common case, it gets a button. Whee.
"But *I* want to go full-screen!" Well good for you - get a haxie, use Windows, or generally find a workaround for your special case.
Just did it. It expanded the window to show the whole image with one click.
Or do you mean you want to zoom in, and have the image artificially inflated to fill the entire screen, thereby changing the presentation parameters? Wow, that's a lot of content alteration for one little button that's supposed to change the *window size* to do.
I have yet to find anyone who says they want Maximize that actually means what they think they mean. It always boils down to one or more of:
1) I want to see all the content. (Don't need wasted space for that... Zoom does it.)
2) I don't want to see other apps. (Cmd-Opt-H for Hide Others)
3) I want the content to *fill the screen* regardless of what its natural size is. (Why are you asking for a window size widget to alter content?? Hint: try a slideshow.)
Anything else?
Maximize is a highly overloaded behaviour that automatically disallows too many *useful* actions in a UI. Figure out *why* you want it, and realize that solutions already exist that don't break everything else. If the only reason is "Because it's what I'm used to" then really, why did you switch?
Let's look at opening an image in Preview and viewing it as big as possible. It's simply not easy.
It's not? Actually, it is. If the image is set to a zoom level that fits on screen, Preview's window zoom button resizes the window to fit those boundaries exactly. Not too small, not too big. If the image is too wide/tall to fit, the window zoom button instead makes the window as wide/tall as possible and adds a scroll bar. And if the image doesn't fit either way, it adds scroll bars on both ends.
And if the image doesn't fit either way, it adds scroll bars on both ends.
At which point the clever and handy "Zoom to Fit" button/menu item changes the content presentation to match the window that you just made as large as possible.
One button for window size, one for content presentation. Clean separation of concerns.
Just for good measure, I should note that part of the reason I consider Photoshop on Windows vastly inferior to Photoshop on Mac OS is the lack of a zoom window widget. (At least they got rid of the stupid grey background recently.)
Click Zoom. If the picture is larger than the screen, it'll go to edges of the screen, with scroll bars.
Click Zoom to Fit. Shrinks the picture to fit entirely in the window, which just happens to be the size of the screen.
Done.
If what you want is to artificially inflate the picture, try hitting the Zoom In button (or Cmd-+) in Preview a few times to make it larger than the screen, then do the above.
Seriously, slideshow would be easier. Cmd-Shift-F, and voila. Fullscreen, nothing else.
I know, you're going to say "that's too much work, I should be able to do it in one click like Windows" but the point is... why break so many other things that are useful, just to make that *one action* easier?
Zoom for intelligent window sizing, other controls for altering content presentation within those boundaries. Orthogonal actions, separate widgets. That's clean design that offers a lot more flexibility.
Edit: While playing around, I ran across a feature I didn't realize was there... Zoom to Selection, under the View menu (Cmd-*). Sweet. Select a region, hit that, and it blows up to the window size. Slick. Makes focussing in on an area of interest much easier.
Comments
Go back and take another look at the patent filling, and *read it*. The Close/Min/Zoom (not Maximize you dweeb) buttons are being made larger when the finger gets near them so they're easier to hit. Then when the finger moves away, they go back to normal. Think Dock Magnification.
That's all that was.
Originally posted by Kickaha
No. I know what got you thinking this, and you're wrong.
Go back and take another look at the patent filling, and *read it*. The Close/Min/Zoom (not Maximize you dweeb) buttons are being made larger when the finger gets near them so they're easier to hit. Then when the finger moves away, they go back to normal. Think Dock Magnification.
That's all that was.
That's not exactly what got me thinking it, as i've thought about this before too. I read the patent, but I still believe the size of those buttons is ever so slightly too small. I'm not alone in thinking this either, i've heard a number of peeps saying it, and I don't what a plug-in or mod/hack to fix the issue. I believe Apple should address it. Switchers are more vocal about it.
/dweeb
No, I don't see them offering a "Normal" "Silly" and "ZOMG!" size choice for the window buttons.
If they alter the size, they'll do so across the board, no option.
There is the possibility of resolution independence in Leopard, but that'll affect the entire UI, not specific elements.
OTOH, adding the spot-magnification to the Accessibility options would be kinda cool, like a loupe.
Originally posted by Placebo
I wish Zoom was as functional as Windows' Maximize.
Hear, hear!
For example, if, say, you have a window whose main content is a table, zoom should resize the window in such a way that the entire table contents are visible; if that doesn't fit on screen, it's effectively equivalent with maximize.
Originally posted by Placebo
Oddly, when I want a window to fill the screen, I don't want to drag drag drag.
And here I thought I was the only person making sense round here.
What I *want* is to be able to see the content, but leave a functional UI with drag and drop, etc. Maximize eliminates that, and reduces you to a brain-dead UI where you can only interact with one app at a time. What's the use in that?
If the content fills the screen, it goes full-screen. If it doesn't, then you don't lose the most useful elements of the UI. It's *gasp* intelligently thought out.
And since it's the common case, it gets a button. Whee.
"But *I* want to go full-screen!" Well good for you - get a haxie, use Windows, or generally find a workaround for your special case.
Just did it. It expanded the window to show the whole image with one click.
Or do you mean you want to zoom in, and have the image artificially inflated to fill the entire screen, thereby changing the presentation parameters? Wow, that's a lot of content alteration for one little button that's supposed to change the *window size* to do.
I have yet to find anyone who says they want Maximize that actually means what they think they mean. It always boils down to one or more of:
1) I want to see all the content. (Don't need wasted space for that... Zoom does it.)
2) I don't want to see other apps. (Cmd-Opt-H for Hide Others)
3) I want the content to *fill the screen* regardless of what its natural size is. (Why are you asking for a window size widget to alter content?? Hint: try a slideshow.)
Anything else?
Maximize is a highly overloaded behaviour that automatically disallows too many *useful* actions in a UI. Figure out *why* you want it, and realize that solutions already exist that don't break everything else. If the only reason is "Because it's what I'm used to" then really, why did you switch?
Originally posted by Placebo
Let's look at opening an image in Preview and viewing it as big as possible. It's simply not easy.
It's not? Actually, it is. If the image is set to a zoom level that fits on screen, Preview's window zoom button resizes the window to fit those boundaries exactly. Not too small, not too big. If the image is too wide/tall to fit, the window zoom button instead makes the window as wide/tall as possible and adds a scroll bar. And if the image doesn't fit either way, it adds scroll bars on both ends.
Originally posted by Chucker
And if the image doesn't fit either way, it adds scroll bars on both ends.
At which point the clever and handy "Zoom to Fit" button/menu item changes the content presentation to match the window that you just made as large as possible.
One button for window size, one for content presentation. Clean separation of concerns.
Originally posted by Placebo
No, I have to first manually make the window screen size, and then press Zoom To Fit.
Er, no, you don't.
Click Zoom to Fit. Shrinks the picture to fit entirely in the window, which just happens to be the size of the screen.
Done.
If what you want is to artificially inflate the picture, try hitting the Zoom In button (or Cmd-+) in Preview a few times to make it larger than the screen, then do the above.
Seriously, slideshow would be easier. Cmd-Shift-F, and voila. Fullscreen, nothing else.
I know, you're going to say "that's too much work, I should be able to do it in one click like Windows" but the point is... why break so many other things that are useful, just to make that *one action* easier?
Zoom for intelligent window sizing, other controls for altering content presentation within those boundaries. Orthogonal actions, separate widgets. That's clean design that offers a lot more flexibility.
Edit: While playing around, I ran across a feature I didn't realize was there... Zoom to Selection, under the View menu (Cmd-*). Sweet. Select a region, hit that, and it blows up to the window size. Slick. Makes focussing in on an area of interest much easier.
While I typically like the Resize the way it is now, that feature's pretty sorely missing.