How do you stop the weird window zoom/popping thing in Lion?

How do you stop the weird window zoom/popping/sliding appear/reappear thing with opening and closing windows? I don't like seeing that weird move. I just want it to just show, on and off. That weird move, I guess you could call it animation, is seriously distracting. Is there no way to disable it? Or is it just another silly memory-eating thing added to a new OS?

Posted on Mar 10, 2012 1:13 PM

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16 replies

Mar 10, 2012 10:12 PM in response to 24Golfer

System Preferences /

User uploaded file

Minimize windows using

Choose the visual effect used when you minimize a window. If you’re unsure of the choices, try them out.

Minimize windows into application icon

Determine how windows behave when you minimize them. Select to minimize windows into application icons in the Dock; deselect to minimize windows to thumbnails in the Dock.

Animate opening applications

Select this checkbox to make icons bounce when you open applications.

Mar 10, 2012 10:20 PM in response to Don Archibald

Sorry if I'm not clear, but it's hard to explain it, since I am not too technical when it comes to Apple jargon -


but please try it in Safari. Try opening a new window and closing a new window. Then try hitting RESET.

See the way the windows do that zoom thing as it appears and reappears? I just can't get used to it. In fact, I HATE it. Is there no way to disable this or is this a Lion thing? It's seriously jarring to me, it's causing panic like a vertigo sensation in me every time I see it.

I don't find it cool or fancy or anything at all, it's very distracting and unncessary.


There has to be a way to stop it? Just plain open and close would do me fine.

Mar 10, 2012 10:51 PM in response to b j t

I don't use a Mouse. And I checked in the options for the Trackpad and it's not there.

I gather this is a built-in thing for Lion.

It's starting to give me a serious headache, and I mean physically. The vertigo sensation is driving me nuts.

I wish I could go back to Snow Leopard but since that was buggy on my Core i7, I'm stuck with this until the next OS comes out and hope that they make this an option thing.

Mar 10, 2012 10:53 PM in response to 24Golfer

Yes, I'm talking about within the program itself. New windows just open and close, no shenanigans at all.


The only delay with a new window is waiting for it to load my homepage (because I have Safari's prefs set to always open new windows to my homepage).


There is no delay in closing a window in Safari - click the red 'close' button or press Command-W and it's gone instantly.

Mar 10, 2012 11:12 PM in response to Don Archibald

You don't see that strange zoom thing? It wasn't there before, you know.

You can even see it when a pop-up window for "Do you really want to close?" window comes up.


Please try hitting the RESET SAFARI. You will see that window come up in the middle, but the WAY in which it appears, like a zoom-in/ warp-like move, was not there in the previous OS. It's so jarring for me.


But if it's not bothering you, then obviously it's OK for you. And it also means there is no option to stop it from doing it, right?

Mar 10, 2012 11:44 PM in response to 24Golfer

I think I may know what you mean. I can see animation on window-opening it if I hit command-N (new window) in some apps such as Safari or TextEdit, but not in others. I think it's best illustrated by hitting command-N several times in quick succession while in TextEdit. I don't see any animation on closing the windows.


What I am seeing was described in the big Lion review in Ars Technica in July. This section includes the following, under Animation (the reviewer hated it also!):

-----------------------------------

Well, guess what happens every time a new window appears on the screen in Lion? No, it's nothing as garish as a water ripple, but there is an animation. Each window starts as a tiny dot centered on the window's eventual position on the screen, then quickly animates to its full size.

You get a window! You get a window! Everybody gets a window!


This animation conveys no new information. It does not tell the user where a window came from, since the animation starts at the final position of the window. Whether or not the animation actually delays the opening of the window, it certainly feels like it does, which is even more important. This type of animation can make Lion feel slower than Snow Leopard. And when an animation like this stutters or skips a few frames due to heavy disk i/o or CPU usage, it makes your whole Mac feel slower, like you're playing a 3D game with an inadequate video card. And for what? For what someone at Apple hopes will be a lasting feeling of delight?

.

.

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There is an update at the bottom of that section that gives a Terminal command to disable this feature. This is all one line:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool NO


I tried it and it works! I had to log out and log back in again for it to take effect. To revert to the default behavior, substitute YES for NO in the above command.

Mar 11, 2012 12:15 AM in response to jsd2

jsd2 wrote:


There is an update at the bottom of that section that gives a Terminal command to disable this feature. This is all one line:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool NO


I tried it and it works! I had to log out and log back in again for it to take effect. To revert to the default behavior, substitute YES for NO in the above command.


Since the beginning of OS X, there have always been a number of built-in yet "hidden" options. Hidden in that there isn't a simple GUI way built into OS X to get to them, but accessible via "defaults" from the command line.


There are a number of apps that can give you simple GUI access to them. I use TinkerTool since it's been there since the beginning, and the idea is to just to access things programmed in, no haxies.


With that app:

- Launch TinkerTool

- Click "General" icon at the top.

- Next to "Window Animation", uncheck "Animate Opening Windows".

- Log out and log back in.


That option in TinkerTool corresponds to NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled


I tried "Reset Safari", and indeed this turned off the zooming.

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How do you stop the weird window zoom/popping thing in Lion?

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