Comment Re:Window managers should manage windows (Score 1) 647
Window management is the one essential thing a OS needs to get right. It is why I dislike using this mac here at work. Sure it's got some nice features. I think it looks kind of plain, but I can see how others might like how OSX looks, but it absolutely fails at window management. Having to click a small target in the bottom right corner is a pain. On my GNOME 2 install at home it's alt+right-click anywhere on the window to stretch the nearest corner or edge. On OSX, dragging a window to the left or right pushes it off screen. Fortunately, GNOME 2 stole a great little thing from Windows 7 which will 'half-maximize' the window. In OSX, I maximize a window and THEN IT LETS ME DRAG IT!!! This is a completely broken paradigm. If maximize mode is there to enable focusing solely on one window, then why is it giving me the ability to drag it? Also, as soon as I touch that top bar, I lose my previously saved window state which then requires me to go and resize the screen using that stupid little hit zone again. OSX window management absolutely sucks.
The one single killer feature of GNOME 2, IMO, is the fact that the focused window is not required to be on top. I can be going through a tutorial on my web browser typing commands into a terminal that I don't even need to see. I don't make many typos, so I only need a bit of visibility on the terminal to make sure everything is golden. I can also be typing code into a window in the background, using another window on top as a reference. If I do want to bring that window to the top, it's hooked up to alt+'+' (or by clicking the title bar). If I want to send it to the back, I press alt+'-'. If I want to move it without bringing it to the front, it's alt+left-click. Simple and intuitive for me. If another DE doesn't provide me the ability to customize the window management experience how I want so I can be more productive, it is inferior in my eyes. That is why OSX and Windows fails. I don't see OSX ever giving me the ability to do this as the way I want to use my OS is wrong in their eyes. Windows is also unlikely to get that ability, but at least it has better defaults for window management that OSX. Simple as that.
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