How to live without windowshading?

Question

Level 3

505 points

How to live without windowshading?

Folks:

This discussion, Is anyone able to use Unsanity haxies with Lion? seems to have run its course. In summary, it seems:

• The answer is "no", Unsanity haxies are unusable with 10.7.x

• Unsanityisn't showing signs of life and, even if they revive, it may be impossible for a third party to implement haxies in 10.7+

• Apple is showing no signs of providing these functions built-in.

• Some people --including me-- are very frustrated by the lack of some functions formerly provided by these haxies.

I'm going to concentrate on the most significant issue for me and for at least some of the people on the above-referenced thread: Windowshading. How can we live without windowshading in 10.7 and beyond? Windowshading, long ago, was built in to the Mac OS. I liked having many, sometimes dozens of files open, easily identifiable, easily restored to full size, arranged on the desktop, generally approximating my workflow, without taking up more than a thin horizontal strip of the desktop for each. I liked being able to arrange these on the desktop as required by my workflow, especially when things are evolving.

- - -

Since Apple does continue to support windowshading in one 10.7 app --Stickies-- it is clear that this function still has some validity. Should this give us windowshading-wanters hope?

Probably not. I'm guessing that Apple Human Interface designers made a special exception for Stickies, as this app has doesn't save any visible files. My guess is that the HI folks feel strongly (VERY strongly) that any kind of desktop workflow-representation should be done with the file icons themselves, on the desktop or in folders. I'm guessing they see the windowshaded representations as bad compromises. I've also seen some evidence that Apple is going in the direction of reducing the distinction between "open" files and prospectively open ones. (D'oh! I wish I'd recorded some links to the articles describing this.)

Well, all in all, it seems we're not going to get windowshading. Juggling lots of open files all at once? Organizing according to workflow? What are the current options? To start: we can shove open windows partly off to the side. That's good for at most 2 or three files per screen edge, left, right, and bottom (with some interference from the Dock) and isn't necessarily so helpful as left and right-shoved files are likely difficult to identify as their titles fall off-screen.

Shrinking to the dock? Yeah, that works -- but in my view only for a very limited number of files.

What about using the solution the HI folks seem to be pushing for, organizing the file icons on the desktop or inside folders? Credit where credit is due: for image files in folders, in cases in which the file icon is a representation of the image, with Finder View-->Show View Options-->Show icon preview enabled, the HI folks have provided a brilliant solution: just use the icon size slider at lower right as necessary. For most images I've worked with, the icon preview can easily be made big enough to recognize and sort each image. None of the image files need be open. Cool.

For me this applies less well to non-image files. Text: I'm imagining sorting hundreds of short files each with a brief bit of text inside (e.g. quotes) all formatted at 9 point. I don't think this will work so well: for me, such text isn't readable even at maximum icon magnification. I simply don't have enough experience with miscellaneous files that don't fit in these categories. Do "minor" 3rd party apps provide icon preview images? (Full disclosure: just now is the first time I've even tried this with non-image files. D'oh!)

Another approach that works for me is to use Mission Control and multiple Desktops/Workspaces. In general, this gives me access to many more open files in workflow-related groups. In my opinion, Mission Control still needs some improvements, and I understand it doesn't work for everyone.

What am I missing? Are there other techniques that can help me (us) live without windowshading? Can anyone find information about what the HI designers have in mind, where they are going?

2.66 GHz Intel Core i5-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Apr 28, 2012 1:51 PM

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Answer 1

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Apr 28, 2012 2:10 PM in response to Hen3ry

WindowShade was always a bit of a clunky solution to a problem that had no other good solution on Mac OS 9 and early versions of Mac OS X. I used to be a WindowShade fan back in the pre-X days, but wouldn't come near it with a 10 foot pole these days. There are far better solutions now. These days, just pile your windows up if doing so pleases you, and switch between them using Exposé or command-`. Or put them on multiple desktops using Mission Control. Or hide applications. (Okay, that one's not new, but it's an old standby that fits in well with all the other mordern methods for managing windows.)

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Answer 2

May 23, 2012 9:04 PM in response to Hen3ry

I don't understand all the haters-- WindowShade is a super handy tool. Such a simple thing really. I don't know what the big deal is about including it. I've tried to use Spaces, but it has never fit into the rythm of my workflow. I do like and use Exposé. Mission Control seems a bit stupid-- if I have to spend a lot of time figuring out how it will be useful to me, then it's not, you know, useful.

I'm with you Hen3ry-- wish there was a Lion WindowShade on the horizon.

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Answer 3

Hen3ry Author

Level 3

505 points

May 31, 2012 12:40 PM in response to Susan Busko

Susan Busko:

Thanks for your supportive response.

Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to get WindowShade functionality ever again. So, to repeat my initial query, "How to live without...?"

I'm comfortable with Mission Control. After some initial struggles, I find it does operate intuitively. I'll recommend you try it again. Best not to over-think it. I did that initially, and didn't make much progress until I stopped.

- - -

Let me briefly discuss this in terms of a practical example, what's going on for me just now: I've got Project "A" in Desktop/Workspace 2 (of 9 total). When active, "A" requires a central "big" application, call it "AppX". Plus, in support, as many as 20 or so other app and Finder windows open, which I spread across my iMac and my attached secondary monitor.

I don't want to name the central app, nor spend time on its specific shortcomings -- I view all that as irrelevant to this discussion.

This morning I needed to look at something completely different using AppX, so without thinking I just shoved all the non-AppX windows to the bottom of my secondary monitor. Primitive windowshading! Then I reconfigured AppX to look at the other stuff.

(I can only see a way to do this trick once, maybe twice if I position the Dock on the side instead of the bottom of the main monitor, which I really don't want to do.)

- - -

Why is this so difficult?

In perspective, it seems to me that many older "big" apps follow an implicit design rule of personal computing: Do Everything, Dominate The Machine.

AppX certainly fits the description. It seems just about as unfriendly to Mission Control as it could be. In particular, there is just no way I've discovered for AppX for multiple projects, each in its own Desktop/Workspace. If I could, I'd use AppX in multiple Desktop/Workspaces, each roughly equivalent to the one described above.

I don't blame Apple and Mission Control for this difficulty. I feel I need to just do the best I can until AppX becomes more compatible with Mission Control. Perhaps Mission Control will evolve to handle these old-style apps.

In the big picture, I think Apple is trying to move MacOS to a place in which the machine is shared by multiple collaboration-friendly apps so a user may switch freely and completely among multiple unrelated projects as necessary. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't have power over 3rd party application developers, especially ones that (I assume) are still making significant profits from their old-concept "big" apps.

- - -

I think there is a second factor: Apple seems to have an internal design principle that a windowshaded file window is redundant and/or a waste of resources. That is, Apple believes that if we users want to organize a group of files on the desktop we should organize the original file icons in project-specific folders.

Hmmm... this is a reasonable proposition. Some apps arrange for their document icons to show document previews. Use the Finder feature to increase the size of icons in a particular folder, and this could really work.

It doesn't work so well for web links, .webloc files, so far as I've seen: the "@ http" icons aren't very helpful when trying to figure out which of a dozen similar web pages I'm using for a ready-reference is the right one. Maybe there's an alternative I haven't seen yet.

In sum, I plan to try to go with this and see how it works, and --as I find often helps with new MacOS features-- I'll do my best to not overthink it.

HTH

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Answer 4

May 31, 2012 3:15 PM in response to Hen3ry

I have lately been using Deskovery as a window shade replacement on Lion.

Give it a try if you want this capability back.

...pt

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Answer 5

May 31, 2012 4:51 PM in response to Hen3ry

I've been using the BetterSnap tool for sometime now. Take a look at it in the App Store.

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Answer 6

Gesteira

Level 1

4 points

Jul 6, 2012 7:18 AM in response to Hen3ry

Deskovery is able to do the same in Lion. I have just installed (I used windowshading in Tiger and Leopard but stop using it in Snow Leopard) and now I'm happy rolling my windows again.

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Answer 7

Hen3ry Author

Level 3

505 points

Jul 10, 2012 4:31 PM in response to Gesteira

OK, worth trying...

I had a little trouble until I read Deskovery's FAQ, and cleared

Apple Menu --> System Preferences --> General --> Double-click a window's title bar to minimize.

So far so good: Windowshading again! I'll try it for a while and post back.

The Deskcoveryproduct page claims "Spaces Support ...See your active workspace and switch to another one in one click and directly from your dock." "Spaces" -- that's about MacOS 10.6, yes? It would be nice to discover that Deskcovery applies to Mission Control in 10.7. Anyone?

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Answer 8

Hen3ry Author

Level 3

505 points

Jul 27, 2012 5:35 PM in response to Hen3ry

Following up...

I've run Deskovery for about 2 weeks. Enabled windowshading by setting

Titlebar double-click --> Minimize to titlebar

in Deskovery preferences.

First, I must say that I find "Wobbly Windows" and "Magnetic Windows" have completely undesirable effects on window dragging, and I eagerly disabled both in the preferenes.

Second, windowshading works exactly as I expect it to work! That is, on all windows except Stickies. In these cases, there's a bit of a glitch, not too serious. I think Deskovery should simply be disabled with respect to Stickies windows, if that is possible.

The only function in Deskovery beyond windowshading I attempted to use is the "Workspace Switcher", but I never figured out how that works. Indicating either relevance only to 10.6 Spaces, or inadequate documentation.

- - -

At the moment, I've got a group of window-shaded documents in a group at the middle of my secondary display. Right now these are incoming emails and web pages. In the cases where my correspondent used an informative subject line, and for all commercial web sites I can instantly identify the subject material. So window-shading is working as I want and expect, as it did in The Old Days.

HTH

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Answer 9

Jan 28, 2013 1:49 PM in response to Hen3ry

Hen3ry,

To get windowShading to work with Deskovery you have to enable a setting in Preferences. You said:

Apple Menu --> System Preferences --> General --> Double-click a window's title bar to minimize.

In has now changed in OS X 10.8.2 (it tooks ages to find where this was hidden).

It is now here:

Apple Menu --> System Preferences --> Dock --> [ ] Double-click a window's title bar to minimize.

It isn't as slick as 'WindowShade X' used to be, but it usable, and as far as I know is the only useable way to shade windows, presently.

It is interesting, that in OS X Lion vanilla, you can window shade one application: Apple Stickies.

So that proves that the functionality is still there, just not used

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Answer 10

Hen3ry Author

Level 3

505 points

Jan 29, 2013 12:51 PM in response to rootscript

rootscript:

Thanks for your reply.

I'll be looking for that double-click function as soon as I move to 10.8, in the next month, I hope. Thanks! It is a minor addition, in my view, but relevant as I still have the reflex to double-click title bars. But minimizing to the dock is, in my view, not very useful -- especially when the number of minimized items grows beyond a very few.

In my previous posts above on this thread, I pretty much agreed with you on the functionality of Deskovery. Yes, it seems to provide what I liked about the Unsanity product.

At this point I'm on the fence about returning there, however. Apple User Interface (UI) designers seem to be pushing users in a different direction, and I'd like to give their ideas a good try. It's happening gradually...

As for Stickies: The original windowshade function was almost certainly provided by the OS and thus generally available. I'm wondering if the current Stickies windowshading is implemented by the Stickies app itself. That makes sense if the UI folks are strongly against this function and allowing only this one special-case exception.

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Answer 11

Feb 28, 2013 1:13 PM in response to Susan Busko

Have you checked out WindowMizer? Version 2.0 was released early February 2013.

http://www.rgbworld.com/windowmizer

It more closely behaves like WindowShade than does Deskovey, at least in my experience with these two apps.

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Answer 12

Nov 5, 2013 10:19 AM in response to Hen3ry

I'd avoid WindowMizer. Poor customer service (they swear at you) and keep jacking the price up when you need a replacement because of OS upgrade. Not worth the aggravation.

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Answer 13

dagooche

Level 1

0 points

Dec 29, 2013 2:38 AM in response to Susan Busko

I concur. Please BRING BACK Window Shade! I'm a Mac user since the first SE and have not enjoyed Apple's great failure to listen to we lowly consumers. The queston to me is, "What dolt decided to alter it in the first place?" Obviously not a power user.

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Answer 14

Jan 1, 2014 2:48 PM in response to Hen3ry

I appreciate that you're trying to stop talking about WindowShade itself. So first I'll offer up for those who have realized the disadvantages of Windowmizer that there is also Deskovery as some others have noted. For what I wanted, it was the better option, but still not nearly the same.

And now, for those of us who are still clinging desperately to 10.6 because we use our arrow buttons and aren't interested in the new OSs just because they supposedly look cooler or function like you're on an iPad or iPhone only you're not of course, does anyone know where I can get Windowshade, since it's still functional with my OS? Anyone around still actually own it? My hard drive crashed in Sept. and I only had soft stuff backed up apparently, and not applications and other things. I've paid for it a few times over the years, but now I can't seem to get it back. You think if I tweet Rosyna he'd have it?

Gracias!

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Answer 15

Jan 1, 2014 2:50 PM in response to Barry Fass-Holmes

Funny, I had the opposite experience, so I strongly urge folks do the trial before purchasing.

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