QotD: Many Apps
Posted April 11th, 2005 @ 05:45pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: This one's making the rounds, and it's as valid a question as any: are you a hider, a closer, a minimizer, or an Exposér?
My Answer: A hider. I rarely minimize windows - except for Finder windows - and the apps in my dock are the ones that are always running anyway. Everything else I quit when I'm done. I may launch Photoshop five different times per day, but I don't keep it in the dock.
You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.
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Posted 11 Apr 2005 at 6:16pm #
A hider. I haven't managed to make Exposé a habit, although I've tried using it a bit more lately through mouse-corners instead of F-keys.
I hate it when I use a windows machine and don't have Command-H available. Closest thing I know of is windows-key+D, which hides all apps and brings you to the Desktop. I guess Windows users live with applications using all the screen at once, and then toggling through them with alt-tab.
Posted 11 Apr 2005 at 6:58pm #
I'm a hider and an Exposér. Apps like iTunes, Mail are always running but I don't need to see them are better left out of the way. Other apps like Safari, Final Draft and Final Cut are frequently in use so I religiously use Exposé by using the click-wheel on my mouse. Rarely do I use the keyboard to activate it.
Posted 11 Apr 2005 at 8:11pm #
I usually close any windows I'm not currently using, although I minimize Safari windows if I plan to look at a page later. (i might open a bunch of links from boingboing, fark, or slashdot in tabs, then minimize the window while I work on something else)
I don't tend to quit apps I'm not using, although once per day or so I go through and kill off anything I'm not using (with the exception of any app I use frequently, such as Safari or Terminal)
I don't hide apps too often, but occasionally I do, if the app has a lot of windows cluttering up the screen and I want it out of the way.
My main use of Exposé is F11 to ge to icons on the desktop although I occasionally use F9. (mostly when trying to drag text between two overlapping windows) I almost never use F10. if Safari didn't have tabs then I'd probably use it often, but since it does I don't have much use for it.
Posted 11 Apr 2005 at 9:21pm #
I am mostly a hider. Rarely do I minimize anything. I do use expose sometimes (mostly as a quick way to see the desktop). I use command-tab a ton to switch between apps, and oftentimes will have a bunch of stuff open behind the app I'm using. If it gets annoying then I'll do a Hide Others.
Posted 12 Apr 2005 at 5:44am #
Neither, i'm a layerer. My workspace is like a VM system: LRU in back, start closing things when it gets too cluttered (i have a high threshold). I hate closing something only to realize I need to refer at some later point.
Posted 12 Apr 2005 at 9:32am #
I close apps when I'm not using them at all, hide them when I'm not using them temporarily, and use Expose to switch between windows within an app. Sometimes I use Expose to see the desktop or to switch betwteen apps, but I usuall use cmd-tab for the latter.
I moved Expose's F9,10,11 keys to F1,2,3 because I need F9 and F10 for another application I use.
Posted 12 Apr 2005 at 10:30am #
Virtual Desktops (Virtue) combined with Exposé. I never close and rarely minimize. I've mapped Exposé to a right click plus command, option or control. Most of my work is in FileMaker so I'm usually mousing a lot. Apps like iChat I'll have set to be on all desktops and I'll tuck them on my second screen.
Posted 12 Apr 2005 at 2:49pm #
I moved the exposé options to the upper-right and lower-left corners of my screen. I only use the "show all windows" and "show desktop" options. I left my apple menu corner empty and my lower-right turns on my screen saver. Exposé is one of the many genius things that make OS X superior.
My other favorite ingenious features are the Cocoa frameworks and (only 17 days!) Core Data. Then again, I'm a nerd. 🙂
Posted 15 Apr 2005 at 9:05am #
I've mapped all the Expose buttons to various buttons on my mouse (it's one of those with more buttons than I really need), but the only one I regularly use is the Application-level Expose. This is usually for when I'm in Mail, or a web browser, or Finder, or other multiple-document applications, obviously I don't need this in iTunes or DVD Player. I never use Expose from the keyboard, it's become an extension of using the mouse for me (because you need to use the mouse to choose which window you want to select once they're exposed anyway).
But I find that unless I need to sweep everything out of sight to concentrate on some task, I just let windows slowly accummulate and cover each other. Since it's a 15" PowerBook, I don't have a ton of screen real estate and this just naturally happens. With a simple Ctrl-space I can pretty much switch to or open any application (or even any document) I want since I am a pretty rabid Quicksilver user, so I don't really spend a lot of time organizing the various windows/applications.