Want to know the single thing I hate most about the Mac (besides the unexpected “spinning beach ball of death” that shows up every now and then)? It’s Finder. After using a Mac for almost a year and a half I still see Finder as terribly frustrating to use, and feel that it sucks the productivity right out of everything you do that involves file viewing and manipulation.
Basically, you can operate Finder in one of two modes. The default is that when you click on a directory, the current Finder window opens the new directory. So by default, you only have one Finder window open at a time. You can specifically open more Finder windows but then you run into the same problem as I am about to describe.
The other mode is, when you click on a directory it opens a new Finder window. You have to enable this mode in Finder’s preferences.
Either way, sooner or later you get multiple Finder windows on the screen (unless you close them after use, but what if you might want to go back to that window?). And herein lies the problem: After you have more than two or three Finder windows, they start to overlap. Pretty soon Finder windows get hidden behind other Finder windows and then you can’t find the window you want, or you click on the viewable portion of one window and suddenly it partially hides another you also need to see, etc. Then you start re-opening the same directory because you can no longer find the first Finder window you opened of that directory, which further compounds the problem.
So here is the utility I SO want, but have been unable to find anywhere: It places a button in every Finder window’s top bar. If you click on it, it tiles all open Finder windows so they fill the screen, but (optionally) closes duplicate Finder windows first (that is, if two or more windows are open on the same directory, it only leaves one of them open and closes all the others). If you have two finder windows, they each take up half the screen. If you have four, they each occupy one quarter of the screen. It intelligently decides how large each Finder window should be, and places it on the screen so that it does not overlap any other Finder windows, but occupies the maximum space. Of course, if you have a ridiculous number open, such that each window would be microscopically small (even after closing all the duplicates), it should probably pop up a box that says that and gives you the option to close them all with one click.
The idea is, you click the button, and can immediately see that Finder window you know you opened 20 minutes ago. You can also see all the other Finder windows you’ve opened, and close all those you know you are through with. Then click the button again and the remaining Finder windows will fill the screen.
For bonus points: A closed Finder window history dropdown. Keep track of recently closed Finder windows and (probably via a drop-down menu or a right-click menu) let you select one to re-open.
Has this just never occurred to anyone before, or is it that there’s something about Finder or the Mac that makes it impossible to create such a utility, or what?
EDIT: I usually welcome comments on posts. However, this post in particular seems to have attracted the attention of Mac fanboys who obviously neither understand what I am asking for, nor can be bothered to read all the previous comments before rushing to post their bit of idiocy. So let me save you some time — if you are going to suggest anything related to Exposè or Spaces, neither of those will do what I’m asking here. If you don’t understand why, feel free to read my responses to all the other commenters that have suggested the same thing. And if you insist on posting a suggestion to use Exposè or Spaces anyway, don’t be surprised if I call you an illiterate or a moron, or something equally unflattering. Unless you have a suggestion that does not involve using Exposè or Spaces, or want to make a comment that does not mention either of those pieces of software, please just mosey along — your comment is not welcome in this thread, because frankly I’m sick of responding to self-absorbed people who can’t even be bothered to read the other comments before posting theirs.
Subscribe to The Michigan Telephone blog
Another Mac Annoyance Solved: Right Zoom 1.0 « Michigan Telephone, VoIP and Broadband blog said
[...] Now if only someone would come up with an application that would resize and tile all your open Finder windows with one click (so that no Finder window overlaps another) – it might actually change might opinion of Finder from hate and loathing to mere tolerance. (Edit: See my related post: Mac OS X Finder SUCKS – could someone PLEASE make a tile utility?) [...]
Anonymous said
Give XFolders a try.
michigantelephone said
Xfolders is great if all you want a dual-pane file manager, although it’s a bit barebones compared to Total Commander (which runs on Windows). My issue is that sometimes I want to see more than just two windows. But Xfolders is also particularly buggy on my system – it seems to crash at the drop of a hat (for example, I can cause it to crash by clicking on the “Macintosh HD” button, to try to get to the root level of my main hard drive.
Right now, in that category of program I like AntCommander better, and have also used muCommander (though it takes too long to load for my taste). But when I really need to get something accomplished, the one that always comes through for me is Midnight Commander, which isn’t even a Mac program but can be installed using Rudix (you have to read the instructions carefully as there are two other packages that must be installed to make it work – of course you could always read my previous article on the subject at http://michigantelephone.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/how-to-install-midnight-commander-under-mac-os-x-the-easy-way-using-rudix ).
Xfolders has potential if the crashing problems could be fixed, but it still would not solve the Finder annoyance that bugs me so much (when I need to view and move files between more than two directories).
The five Windows programs I wish were available on a Mac « Michigan Telephone, VoIP and Broadband blog said
[...] Commander – I’ve said before how much I think that Mac OS X Finder Sucks, but if you try to find a decent dual-pane file manager for the Mac you won’t find one as [...]
mike said
I am trying to give OS X a shot after debian. Man, is it frustrating and the finder is one of those: what can’t it remember anything about the folders, like how wide your columns were? They’re never wide enough to see anything useful, the sizes of the windows are remembered, nothing.
…and it seems there’s not way to do many thing with the keyboard. For example, how do you switch to a “mini” window of an application (like a preferences pane)? You can propeller-tab between APPLICATIONS and propeller-backtick between windows of one application, but it doesn’t switch to the “tiny” windows of that app…
anyhoo.
Joe said
Did yo ever think to use the F9 key? Works slick. Or click on Window in the top Finder menu bar. It lists all open Finder windows. Click on the one you want. Simple. I use Finder a lot to move things around or copy from various drives or folders. I would be lost without it. Never even thought of the problem you have and I have lots of windows open also; never been bothered by it. Try the F9 key.
michigantelephone said
Yes, Joe, I am fully aware of the F9 key. Press it, and it shows ALL your open program windows, not just Finder windows. If there were some way to exclude everything but Finder windows, so that they don’t appear as about the size of a couple of postage stamps, then maybe you could actually read them – but that’s beside the point, because once you click on any of the windows it just comes to the foreground, hiding all other windows behind it. So you can’t actually do anything useful, like say move files between Finder windows, while it’s in that state. I hate to throw it in the face of the Mac fanboys, but Finder is one of the suckiest pieces of file management software ever developed, and in your heart you know I’m right. Why Apple hasn’t put a stake through the heart of this abomination I’ll never know.
Joe said
OK. Now I am going to assume you don’t have 10.5 otherwise you would be using Spaces to keep things in order. If you have 10.4 or earlier you could use CodeTeks Virtual Desktop Pro to do the same thing http://www.codetek.com/
Files can be moved by simply copying the file to a new location then delete from the original location if need be.
I would suggest Linux but am suer that would tax you to an extreme. I also would suggest Windows since Mac seems to be too much for you.
michigantelephone said
It’s exactly this sort of response that keeps so many people firmly in the Windows camp. I don’t know why it is, but if you are a Windows user you can say the operating system is crap, that Microsoft software sucks, that you hate everything about a Windows computer and almost nobody will insult your intelligence for stating your opinion. But if you DARE to imply that a Mac or OS X (or Linux, for that matter) isn’t the greatest thing ever, someone is sure crawl out of the woodwork and hurl insults in your general direction. I’ve known Windows users who’ve tried Linux and went back to Windows, because every time they asked for help, or offered an opinion that was the least bit critical of anything Linux-related, some jerk would let them know in no uncertain terms that they were of inferior intelligence and therefore not worthy to even look at a Linux box. Mac users aren’t quite that bad, but as we see here, there are a few among their numbers.
Now for those of you who’ve never touched a Mac and who therefore might think that Joe is actually speaking with some degree of knowledge, I will just point out that “Spaces” is actually just multiple desktops, something that has been offered under KDE on Linux for years now. And while you can indeed have programs running in different desktops, that in no way addresses the issues with Finder. To put it in perspective, this is like like me complaining that I don’t like Photoshop (which I don’t, but I’ll spare you my thoughts on that) and someone suggesting I should try Microsoft Word. You’d be saying, “Wait a minute, that’s two totally different types of programs”, and that’s exactly the point here – Spaces and Finder have totally different purposes, and there’s no way that Spaces will let you tile open Finder windows on the same desktop.
(I’ve never been impressed with multiple desktops under OS X or Linux, but I know some people just love them. To each his own, I guess.)
There is some truth in part of what Joe said – even two or three years ago, most of the Linux versions out there would have taxed the majority of Windows users (myself included) to the extreme. Mac users are a broader mix – many expect their computers to be just as easy to use as Windows (and OS X comes pretty close overall) and those folks probably also would have had difficulty with Linux, though since OS X is a form of Unix, there are some OS X users that want to do everything from the command prompt and in other ways act like a typical Unix/Linux geek. Today it may be different – I’ve been reading some very good reports about Ubuntu Linux (and Linux Mint, which I guess is a variation of Ubuntu designed to be even easier to use, particularly when playing certain types of media) and therefore I think I could – and just may – transition to one of those variations of Linux whenever my Mac passes into obsolesce, which I don’t expect to happen for quite some time. I’m NOT happy with the way Apple behaves as a company (particularly toward their iPhone users – talk about a product I would not buy if they were selling them at 1/10th the price, but again that’s another discussion not relevant here) but then in that respect Apple and Microsoft are like two peas in pod (except Apple does have better commercials). The thing that really turns me off about Linux are the “Joes” that inhabit their help forums and IRC channels, that would rather write three paragraphs telling you you’re a moron and you need to go read the documentation than to write the maybe ten words that would actually answer your question.
Of all the computers I’ve owned, the one I enjoyed using the most was my old TRS-80, because back then we were all still learning about our magic machines and there were very few people who were arrogant enough to get an attitude about new users. And back then there was no commercial Internet, so the jerks couldn’t insult users on five continents within the space of ten minutes. Capabilities aside (we measured memory and storage in kilobytes back then!), I just think computer users were a whole lot more helpful back then. Anyway, Joe, if you’re so damned smart why don’t you write the software I’m asking for, instead of just sitting on the sidelines acting smug and arrogant?
Anonymous said
“So here is the utility I SO want, but have been unable to find anywhere: It places a button in every Finder window’s top bar. If you click on it, it tiles all open Finder windows so they fill the screen…”
What I said before, exactly what the F9 key does.
“The idea is, you click the button, and can immediately see that Finder window you know you opened 20 minutes ago. You can also see all the other Finder windows you’ve opened, and close all those you know you are through with. Then click the button again and the remaining Finder windows will fill the screen.”
Again, exactly what the F9 key does.
“Yes, Joe, I am fully aware of the F9 key. Press it, and it shows ALL your open program windows, not just Finder windows. If there were some way to exclude everything but Finder windows, so that they don’t appear as about the size of a couple of postage stamps, then maybe you could actually read them”
Umm, Spaces maybe? Also as I said, put the Finder windows in its own space (multiple desktop if you will).
Spaces and Finder have totally different purposes, and there’s no way that Spaces will let you tile open Finder windows on the same desktop.
Huh? Yes Spaces and Finder are different, but put them together and they give you what you are asking for. You can tile multiple windows on the same screen space, exactly what you are asking for. One Space for Apps. One Space for Finder windows, etc.
I think I may have missed one of your points, I’m sorry. Apparently you want to push a button not only to ‘see’ the windows but to tile them so they can all be accessed at the same time. If that is the case then I understand what you are saying. But I only need four or five max open at any time. I simply size them to fit on the screen, in a different space.
From another of your posts (20090301), “I don’t know about anyone else, but I find multiple open windows to be very distracting. I see some guys with five or ten open windows on their desktops and think that would drive me crazy – it’s just way too much clutter.”
From this post, “If you click on it, it tiles all open Finder windows so they fill the screen…” “If you have two finder windows, they each take up half the screen. If you have four, they each occupy one quarter of the screen.”
OK, I’ll bite, do you want multiple windows open or not? You need to figure that out first. On the one hand you say having multiple windows open “would drive me crazy”. On the other hand you say “The idea is … the remaining Finder windows will fill the screen.”
I’m not trying to cause trouble here. But when I read something this confusing I gotta respond. It’s like switching from a car to a motorcycle. They are both transportation; get you from A to B. But then you say ‘Boy I wish this bike had four wheels it would certainly be easier to ride’. I am curious now why you switched to a Mac when everything you liked in a computer is in Windows. Just sayin…
On another note –
“The thing that really turns me off about Linux are the “Joes” that inhabit their help forums and IRC channels, that would rather write three paragraphs telling you you’re a moron and you need to go read the documentation than to write the maybe ten words that would actually answer your question.”
I have found more help with Linux users than anything else. I agree with you when you say they tell you to read the documentation. It is expected that you have knowledge of what you are asking and not just keep looking for someone to do your homework. If you ask questions and can show you have made a concerted effort to actually find the answer most are very happy to assist.
I’m sorry for seeming to be being offensive to you at first. But I find it very, very easy to move files between Finder windows. And I also have been using computers for some time. In fact one of the earliest was an Altos that used eight inch floppies.
michigantelephone said
I don’t know why this is so hard to understand. I run most of my programs full screen – that is, when I have Mail or Firefox or Vienna open, I want that program to fill the screen. However, Finder is a special case – most of the time when you have Finder open, it’s because you are doing file operations that very often requires dragging files between Finder windows – which is hard to do if some of your Finder windows are covering other Findows windows. I just want to be able to click a button and have all the Finder windows – but NOT any of the other, non-Finder windows that may be open – tile themselves such that no Finder window overlaps another.
Maybe Spaces would serve the purpose if there were a way to have it automatically change to Finder’s “Space” whenever a finder window is called up (whether by me or by the operation of some other piece of software). I’m not sure if that’s possible – frankly, I’ve found Spaces incredibly un-useful for most of what I want to do, if only because Apple doesn’t give you a handy dock icon to change between spaces (similar to KDE’s icon that lets you click on the desktop you want), and some other solutions will change spaces when I don’t want them to (if I accidentally park my mouse near the edge of the screen, for example). So honestly I haven’t explored all the possibilities of using Spaces.
Actually, it really didn’t click when I read your previous post that you were saying I should have nothing but Finder windows open in a “Space.” Even so, unless I’m still missing something here, I don’t think that’s going to help, because as I pointed out, when you press F9, it may let you SEE all the windows but if you actually click on one (as you would if you were trying to move a file), it re-expands and comes to the foreground, very likely covering up the other window you need to see to complete the operation. In other words I don’t just want to be able to SEE all the windows at once, I need to actually have them be usable. If I see a file in a Finder window and click on it, I don’t want the window to re-expand before I’ve completed the move operation.
Want to know the real reason I switched to a Mac? Encouragement from another family member. I’m obviously not as thrilled with the Mac as he is, but then again I get the sense that he’s not as thrilled with the Mac as he used to be (at the time I got mine, he was really enthusiastic about it – but that was right at the time they switched from Tiger to Leopard, and I got the sense that Leopard was a bit of a disappointment in that it broke a few things that had worked well before, particularly in regard to networking. After that he wasn’t giving Apple nearly as much praise as he had been).
Mind you, that’s not to say that either of us are ready to run back to Windows, and especially not to Vista. But when the next version of Windows is released, I’m not totally ruling out the possibility of going back to it, particularly when the Mac starts getting a bit long in the tooth. It’s probably more likely that if I jump, it will be to Linux this time (assuming it gets even more user-friendly in the next couple of years) but I’m not leaving any of the possibilities off the table.
By the way, the other thing that attracted me to the Mac Mini was the small form factor (finally a computer that doesn’t take up an obnoxious amount of room on my desktop, yet still lets me use the monitor and keyboard that *I* want to use). I have a feeling that Apple would have a much higher percentage of users if they’d promote the Mac Mini more, since it’s ideal for those who have switched from Windows and/or don’t want to be stuck with Apple’s choices for a display and keyboard – and besides that, it’s fairly affordable (NEVER going to happen that I will pay >$1K for a computer – in fact if Apple does lose me, it will be mostly because they are keeping their prices too high). I read today that Apple is going to start designing their own chips (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104666426570729.html) and if they do that, my question is, will they use those chips as a way to further lock Mac users into buying only Apple products, at vastly inflated prices? If they do, I’m definitely gone.
Regarding my comment about Linux users – I know that some Linux users can be incredibly helpful. I’ll just relate one example where they weren’t. I had just set up a Kubuntu box and wanted to have a network share mount automatically at bootup (something EASILY accomplished in Windows networking). Keep in mind that I’m strictly a GUI user if at all possible, I don’t want to learn a bunch of arcane commands or mess with config files, so I expect Linux to handle networking in a GUI, which it mostly did but not this one thing. When I asked how to do it on one of the IRC channels (probably #kubuntu), I was told to “f**king Google it” but with no clue whatsoever as to what words I should be searching on (anything I could think of brought up tons of irrelevant responses). It turned out that it wasn’t a hard thing to do – one line added to some configuration file – but it took me SIX frustrating hours to figure that out. If just one of the participants on that channel could have taken five seconds and typed either the name of the file that the line had to go in, or the first word of the line I had to enter it would have cut my search significantly. That experience REALLY left a bad taste in my mouth for the supposedly helpful Linux community (and Kubuntu Linux in general).
I appreciate your apology (and you are forgiven) but please remember, some of us have a harder time connecting the dots than others.
And it does sound like you go back at least as far as I do. Actually, the very first time I used a computer was an old PDP-10 system, via a friend’s account at a university he was attending. The mass storage on that one was either punch cards or paper tape! But that doesn’t really count, because it wasn’t my computer, which is probably a good thing because it filled up a very large room at the time.
Joe said
You know, I was a big PC fan for many years, mainly because I could build my own and put into it what I wanted. I knew next to nothing about Unix or Linux. My son started playing with Linux when he was about 15. I couldn’t understand his fascination with it. Then I started to play with it and liked the command line interface along with the GUI aspect of it. The main reason I started using a Mac is that my job dictated that I use a Mac for some presentations we were doing. And I found I liked it (after a month of frustration to be sure). The main thing I liked was that it would run OS X, Linux, Unix, AND Windows all on the same box. Yes it cost more but for the capabilities to be the same on a PC the price is actually about the same. I also use an iPhone now mostly because it works so well with my Mac. I agree Apple locks you in to their way but don’t mind that because it was a choice I knew about going into it. My son, also now mainly a Mac user (he is a Unix Sysadmin now using Solaris and also has SGI and windows boxes) has a G1 phone and loves it so I may check that out when my contract expires soon. I know I jumped a bit hard on you at first, which was wrong, but I also get hit a lot for using Macs and thought at first you were just dissing them. Gotta run now maybe check in later. My previous post was listed as anonymous, shrug, I did something wrong. Guess I’m getting sucked into the debates I also hate so much. Good luck to you and if you find a solution to your problems please post them, I would like to learn. PS my email is obviously fake as I get to much spam and such that I don’t as my real email except for people I know well.
ivonicolas said
You can assign one desktop in Spaces to the finder as an application. Then, everty time you open a window, it’s open in the assigned desktop.
Try playing with spaces and exposé at the same time.
michigantelephone said
ivonicolas: Did you not read my previous responses? It’s not just a matter of getting all the Finder windows into a single desktop, or being able to SEE them all at once – it’s that I want actual, usable Finder windows (not graphical representations thereof) tiled, so that that I can actually drag and drop files between them. No matter how many times someone says it, spaces and exposé will NOT do what I’m wanting to do, because the minute you try to actually click on anything it goes right back to its former state.
ivonicolas said
Still dont understand the problem. Exposé makes all windows usable.
Just set in preferences one corner to activate expose; Then, while you have several windows opened, drag a file to that corner (all the windows will appear), still dragging the file, move it to the desired folder. Wait two seconds, so the folder becomes activated. Finally, leave the file there.
michigantelephone said
The problem is it doesn’t TILE the damn Finder windows and the minute you click on any of them it goes out of Exposé. You are wanting me to use a very clunky interface that’s not suitable for the purpose. Furthermore, I don’t want to enable active corners because too often my mouse wanders there accidentally and then I am someplace I don’t want to be (just for the record, I hate “mouse gestures” too). Exposé is a pain in the butt to use under any circumstances because it makes everything so mall you can’t read it, but the real problem is that even if I wanted to use multiple desktops and make Finder run all by itself in a desktop, when you have Exposé open you cannot click on a file in one visible Finder window and drag it to another visible Finder window because what you are seeing is not actual Finder windows, you are seeing graphical representations (like thumbnails but larger) of Finder windows. Why in the hell should I have to do a spaces – Exposé – active corners – bullshit dance when all I really want is to be able to click a button IN FINDER and have the open Finder windows all neatly tile themselves. Oh, wait, because none of the Apple Geniuses (ha!) thought it should be THAT simple.
You remind me of the Linux guys that say, “Oh, it’s real simple to do that, just open a terminal window and type (some arcane command)”, when I don’t want to go anywhere near the command prompt if I don’t absolutely have to. You people that keep mentioning Exposé and Spaces just don’t get it – that’s nowhere near as easy as what I’m suggesting. But here’s a challenge for you – make a video showing this in action, post it to YouTube or some similar site, and prove me wrong. It doesn’t count if you have to enable active corners, I really hate those because of the aforementioned “mouse wander” factor. And it doesn’t count if you can’t click on a file in one Finder window and drag it to another Finder window, and it doesn’t count if you have pre-positioned the Finder windows so they are a uniform size and don’t overlap – you have to start out with a messy bunch of Finder windows that are all of different sizes and overlap each other, and then in some way display them not overlapping and of fairly uniform size, and they had better be readable as well.
If you can’t do that, then STFU about Exposé and Spaces, because they just don’t work in the way I’m suggesting, and that’s not going to change no matter how many Mac fanboys bring it up. The basic issue is that Mac OS X Finder sucks, and there’s no really good reason why Apple shouldn’t fix it or replace it with something far more user-friendly, because it really detracts from the whole “Mac experience.”
ivonicolas said
well…expose and spaces are really nice once you get used to them. Anyway…
“but the real problem is that even if I wanted to use multiple desktops and make Finder run all by itself in a desktop, when you have Exposé open you cannot click on a file in one visible Finder window and drag it to another visible Finder window because what you are seeing is not actual Finder windows, you are seeing graphical representations (like thumbnails but larger) of Finder windows.”
Yes you can. You’ve just to wait two seconds while dragging the icon. The “window image” then becomes an active window.
michigantelephone said
But what are you dragging FROM??? You’ve got all these pictures of Finder windows open in Exposé (not REAL Finder windows). So you can’t click on one to select a file TO drag – IF you can read the teeny-tiny text, that is – because the minute you click on one Exposé goes away. Sure, that one Finder window may come to the foreground, but then you still have to reselect the file, and the finder window you want to drag TO is buried again because you’re not in Exposé anymore.
And in any case, it’s STILL not clicking ONE button to tile the damn Finder Windows.
Mac OS X Finder sucks.
Mac fanboys suck, and can be thoroughly annoying, as in this case.
Macs are too expensive and they are NOT as easy to use as Apple would have you believe.
Now, do you REALLY want to continue annoying me by trying to put lipstick on this pig? Finder is as desirable as a pig with swine flu, as far as I’m concerned.
Zelgado said
While I’m a Mac user, and I suppose fanboy to some extent, I’ll wholeheartedly agree that the Finder sucks. I also think the ideas above are really stupid, but they would work for what you want. As for where you are dragging the file from, well, you drag the file and activate Exposé while still holding it. At that point, any window you highlight and bring forward you’re able to drop the file in. It’s not one button and it sucks, but it does do what you want. Having said that, it’s annoying and dumb, and the Finder continues to suck. So…
Have you tried something like PathFinder? I use it all the time. Between the Drop Stack and Tabs, it’s pretty hard to get it to the point where it’s out of control. Plus, it’s pretty damn customizable. Really, it’s what the Finder should of aimed to be from the start. Of course, it’s not cheap, but I think it’s well worth the money.
If that doesn’t work, perhaps something like Finder Window Manager will do what you want? I do believe it’ll work the way you want it to. Or, at the very least, make it a bit less annoying.
Either way, there’s some ideas. Take’em or leave’em, doesn’t really matter.
michigantelephone said
I had tried PathFinder but the issue I had with it was that the right click menu was not the same as in Finder, if I recall correctly – or, at least, there was some difference between the way it worked and the way Finder worked that caused me to take it out of consideration fairly quickly.
Finder Window Manager is another matter. It actually does do almost exactly what I want, if you first go to its Preferences/Tile menu and uncheck “Hide Window Toolbars”, then right click on its icon in the top menu bar, select “Utilities” and then “Tile Open Windows.” I say “almost” because it doesn’t dynamically choose the size of each finder window based on the number of windows (that is, if you only have two Finder windows open it won’t cause each one to fill half the screen). The other issue is that it hasn’t been updated for nearly two years, yet the author still wants $15 for it. I figure that if an author hasn’t touched a piece of software for nearly two years, it may be he’s moved on to other things. In any case this still doesn’t address the idea that this functionality ought to be built into Finder. At least Finder Window Manager is usable for an hour at a time without registering, so it’s a partial solution, but not nearly as convenient as a “tile” button on each Finder window.
This reminds me of a joke I sometimes tell people who ask what the difference is between Windows, OS X, and Linux. Let’s say you are trying to figure out how to do something that’s relatively simple, but just not currently supported by the operating system. If you go to a forum or IRC channel dedicated to each respective OS, the answers you are most likely to get are as follows.
Windows: Yeah, Windows sucks like that, but there’s a shareware utility program you can try over here, or if you want a free solution there are five other programs that do nearly the same thing, though you might have to use two of them together to get the functionality of the shareware program, and we can’t guarantee that any of them won’t contain a virus or cause a Blue Screen of Death. Of course, just moving the mouse might cause a BSOD.
Mac OS X: Macs are perfect out of the box, why would you even need to do that? But if you really want to do it, go to the Apple Store and buy something. Who wants free software, if you can afford a Mac you must be pretty well off, so no free software for you!
Linux: If you need to ask, you’re not good enough to use Linux. Read the Fine (ahem) Manual, or just Google it. And no, we can’t be bothered to suggest what words might work in a Google search – stumbling in the dark for a day and a half trying to figure out how to do something simple is part of the Linux learning experience. But look at it this way, at least when you do find the solution, it will almost certainly be free – assuming your time isn’t worth anything, that is.
For the humor-impaired, the above contains a lot of sarcasm and exaggeration. But yes, it really does bother me that first of all. Mac users are so willing to just do without simple convenience features that ought to be part of the OS because they are under the delusion that their Macs are perfect, or else get nickled-and-dimed to death for utilities that would probably be free and plentiful under any other platform. Even the reaction I’ve had to this post shows how thin-skinned some Mac users are. Well, call me the skunk at the garden party if you want, but I am not a part of the “cult of Mac” and if the Linux distributions keep getting better and more user-friendly, I could easily see myself moving to Linux a few years from now (hopefully my Mac will last at least that long). Generally speaking I DO like my Mac Mini well enough, but I’m not one of those rich Apple users that can blow three grand on a new Mac every couple of years, so I have a slightly different perspective than someone who is rich enough to think nothing of dropping $25 or $50 a month on Mac software.
liam said
hay i understand your new to mac so thats all the problem, it’ just takes a it of time to pick up thats all.
it dosent mater what os you use just what you do, like any app a os takes a little time to pick up thats all.
-ok at the top of each window is 3 buttons red,yellow,green
-you want the yellow one it hides the window in the dock
-so when you move the mouse to the dock you see a folder icon and it’s name and it pop’s up
now if hiding is not what you want F9 will tile them but you cant use them all just select the one you want which can be useful
also spaces is vary useful you can use each space for a different subject
but you may want a more window/linux stile navigation, in a finder window you see 4 buttons (in osx10.5) one with 4 squares in the button (which you are using i assume) then next to that 4 line’s in a button then next to that 4 lines in a box going vertical then after that a square with 3 lines on the left and 3 on the right
the 3 button gives you a more windows/linux style
there’s a few other ways you can get around your problem just google.
now there’s one problem you may have if your used to windows, do you have the screen at it’s native resolution if not you will be able to fit less on the screen.
what mac are you using what screen if your on a 13″ macbook you will always have this problem if you have an external screen maybe it’s time to upgrade or get a dual montior set up.
if your on a Intel mac just install what you want you can run windoz instead of osx install bootcamp and have a prty windoz computer
if you want to use osx get 10.6 when it comes out there will be some improvements in finer
Ian said
Dragging files between windows can be a pain for sure. I use expose and the active corners trick and love it. I also sometimes get the mouse wander annoyance, but I tolerate it. Using it to drag files after 5 cups of coffee will make you nuts with all the waiting for a window to become active. A very simple way around this is copy/paste. Highlight the files you want to move/copy and hit either command-c or command-x. This does exactly what you would expect c copies the file and x cuts it. The hit F10 to use expose to see just your open finder windows. Click the one you want to bring it to the front. And control-v to paste the previously copied or pasted files to the new location.
If expose is too annoying for you, you can also use the Window menu in finder to see all open windows and select one. Then under the Go menu is a recent folders menu if you had a window open before and want to get back to there.
Chris said
I just came across this blog while googling for a Finder utility that would allow me to move files in the Finder with keyboard shortcuts.
I completely understand the frustration of the author – the Finder does suck, but what’s almost as frustrating is the Mac Fanboys whose first response is always “Why would you want to do it that way?”. Or, “You can already do that” and then give you some completely unrelated or utterly impractical solution (see Spaces + Expose example above). What I rarely get is an actual solution or, if there isn’t one, an admission that it could use improvement.
michigantelephone said
Chris, you have hit the nail on the head. What I asked for – and what I still want – is something that will put a button on the Finder toolbar, and when I click it, will tile all the open Finder windows. I do not want to use Spaces or Exposé or some costly external utility; I just want the damn Finder windows to tile themselves!
For just a brief moment last night I thought my Mac Mini might have died – when I turned on the monitor it acted as if the computer was dead (turned out it was the monitor that needed a complete power-down reset, not the Mac Mini). But in that moment, I contemplated how I might replace it – a machine running Linux Mint? Ubuntu? Windows 7? Maybe an older machine? All I knew was that as much as I liked some aspects of the Mac, I was not going to buy another – it just hasn’t been the great machine that the Mac fanboys have made it out to be. Fortunately the Mac didn’t die, and I hope it will be a few more years before I’m forced into making that decision – but if Apple keeps going in the direction they’ve been moving (and if Linux keeps getting more user-friendly), I’m pretty sure there’s not going to be another Mac in my future.
It'sAMe,Mario said
What i do: open two (or more for the matter) finder instances, one is the “source” and the other is the destination. Right click on the file i want to drag, thumb button on my mouse (Exposè, show all windows) move the mouse over the desidered window, click again on the thumb button so that window gets on the foreground, stop dragging the file as i’m where i wanted to be. This got me incredibly addicted to thumb buttons on mice, and Exposè. Any other solution sucks for me.
Now that i pointed out this nothing less than awesome procedure, let ME rant.
Why, i really mean it, WHY nobody looks into the preferences/settings of their new toys? What you ask is actually one of the functions of Exposè, just not the one mentioned till now! System Preferences – Exposè and Spaces – Exposè. Look, there are three shortcuts, one is the often mentioned “F9″ but the other two are as much interesting. One hides the windows out of the screen, so you can access the desktop, the others instead tiles all the windows of the app in the foreground. Try it, Ian suggested it, too. Spaces jumps to the right space, if you click on an app in a different space. You can use pretty much the same procedure i described above with Spaces, as it allows you to drag and drop files in different spaces. While i don’t drag stuff from a space to another, i do have 9 of them dedicated to different apps, like one for Opera, one for Colloquy, one for Mail, one for iTunes…. helps with the clutter and i’m happy about that, but i like small laptops and before Leopard came with Spaces, i just used Exposè. On my 12″ iBook. Mind you, all the swiftness in my system lies in a thumb button on the mouse, with only the trackpad it does become kinda cluncky (an hand to handle the mouse operations, and one on the keyboard for Exposè, still better than not using Exposè) but it works. Look for a mouse shaped like a Logitech MX 500 (or MX 1000, or MX Revolution) so that the thumb button will be there, and easy to reach. Exposè for some reason seems to support mice with over 30 buttons (lol what?) so you shouldn’t even need proper drivers to set up things. Otherwise use the suplied drivers, or grab an app that will do it, i know about USB Overdrive and maybe SteerMouse, but i never needed them, so i’m not going to say anything good or bad.
Also, Mac OS has AppleScript. If you know how to use it, it makes wonders, otherwise you can still google for things like “applescript window tile” see if anything works for you, and drag the compiled script onto the Finder’s tool bar: one click on that icon will start the script. Nobody ever considers AppleScript
michigantelephone said
Ah, another Apple fanboy who is apparently either illiterate, or can’t be bothered to read the previous responses before jumping in and repeating the same tired old garbage that’s been spewed before. Read my May 18, 2009 comments in this thread and maybe, just maybe, you’ll understand why the Exposè feature IS NOT WHAT I AM ASKING FOR. As for Applescript, I did at one point try to find and AppleScript that would provide this function, but was unsuccessful. I’m guessing you either didn’t try to find one (because it was much easier to write a long comment with far too much attitude), or if you did try, you were unsuccessful.
How many times do I have to say it? I KNOW about Exposè. IT DOES NOT DO WHAT I WANT. Having a graphical representation of a Finder window is NOT THE SAME as an actual, working Finder window. Oh, sure, you can click on one of them, but then the others all disappear. Is there an option to click on two or more of them (before Exposè goes away) and have just those windows become active? No, of course not, because THAT would make sense, and actually make Exposè semi-useful to those of us who haven’t bought into the “Everything Apple does is wonderful” crap.
Finder sucks, and using Exposè the way you’re doing it is just an attempt to put lipstick on this pig, but it’s still a pig compared to similar software on other platforms. As far as I’m concerned, Finder is the turd in Apple’s punchbowl. In my opinion, whoever allowed this flaming piece of shit to be included in the Mac OS should have been sent to work in the shipping department, because they have no business making decisions about what’s included in OS X.
It'sAMe,Mario said
I didn’t test any AppleScript because from my point of view, resizing and moving windows is a crime. Given that the so called “user generated content” is always hit and miss, i’m not going to risk my perfectly sized windows to solve a problem that i don’t have, becase a built in function already solves the issue perfectly.
The “flaming piece of shit” has an about window, look at it. Casually, it’s the base of the os since it’s birth so do like i do: if something isn’t good for you, don’t use it and look for alternatives. That’s why i won’t use anything MicroSoft, because they suck at everything (the only exception is the Xbox 360, that has a couple of good third party games).
You know about Exposè? cool, let me quote this: “Press it, and it shows ALL your open program windows, not just Finder windows. If there were some way to exclude everything but Finder windows” so you didn’t know about the option i (and Ian) pointed out. But that’s beside the point because blah blah. That’s one thing that makes most of the switchers (from any os to any other os) the worst kind of persons to help, because everything must work like they are used to, learning a new way to do things is just not right. I don’t try to force my Linux box to act like a Mac, that will never happen.
Me, a fanboy? Pleease. I do like how Apple products work and praise them, but there is still an awfully massive amount of issues with any of those. For example, Leopard is great, but Spaces often fights with the dock, so that i only get the top menu bar of the app (in a different space) i clicked. Or the Finder that in the morning after a night of screensaver gets stuck for some unknown issue, so i have to restart it. Or the greatness of the Intel switch, so that i now use 4gb of ram to do the same things Tiger on PPC did with 1.25gb. Leopard on intel is already better than Tiger on intel, that was as horrible as it could, it felt more like an hack to get it to work on the new architechture than anything else. Hell, i hate Safari and i’m not in good terms with Quicktime, so i use Opera and VLC (or Mplayer), the only apps that are easy to replace that i still use are Mail and iTunes. And still if Eudora wasn’t dead, i’d use that instead of Mail. I could go on ranting on Apple products for a long time, but still end with more good things to make them worthy. Mostly reliability and ease of use, things that make Ubuntu already superior to any Windows that i’ve ever used for more than a few minutes (95 to Vista included).
Now, tell me why you need real windows instead of what exposè gives you. Doing it “the Apple way” is click – exposè – drop. Differences from what you want? IN DETAIL? Why you need windows tiled? to do what? why you think/know that is better than the exposè way? From what you said till now the problem is “i want exposè to do it’s work like it’s doing it, but with windows i can normally interact with, so i can start moving files after i got into this cool mode, instead of starting before of it’s activation”. So it sounds like you just don’t want to try it, and all of the above posts “solve” your issue.
This whole thing seems fairly much like the old trick to get help on Linux “it sucks because i could do this on $otherOS” so you get flamed to hell and dozens of unnerved experts give you several ways to do what you asked, to prove Linux isn’t inferior to nothing.
Now, this is very specific and probably won’t help, but it’s still worth mentioning: if the files you apparently need to move like no tomorrow are all with something in common, you could make yourself an Automator workflow (it’s easy!) to move the files at the end of the day, for example. Say you don’t want a generic mess of downloaded crap in your Downloads folder and it would suit you better to have things sorted in subfolders by kind (multimedia, applications… things like that), you can make an automator workflow to move stuff in their right place. Once it’s ready, you can use it as a folder action (starts automatically every time a file is added) or like a an app that you can click at the end of the day. It’s very specific, so it’s difficult that it will help you, but hey, why not? Maybe it’s what you wanted to do and nobody understood it.
Finally if long, detailed and helpful posts are from people full of themselfs and fanboys, i sure hope you’ll never ever get any more help on any topic than a quick “RTFM!”.
Oh, and BTW i did read all of the page’s content, and the more you talk, the more you sound like a plain old troll, not adding anything useful to the quest for the solution, and attacking people that is kind enough (or bothered?) to help you.
michigantelephone said
This is ridiculous. I have said what I want (too bad if YOU think it’s a crime, that doesn’t mean shit to me). I have explained why Exposè doesn’t work, and if you cannot understand why a non-functional picture of a window is not the same as the actual window, then I’m sorry for your lack of intelligence and/or reading comprehension. But the real kicker is, you come uninvited onto MY blog, insult me and act like a general know-it-all, and then you have the unmitigated gall to accuse me of being a troll? Jackasses who live in glass houses should NOT throw stones!
Let me suggest that if someone’s asking for some particular thing and you can’t give them what they want (or a pointer to it) that you simply shut up and get on with life. If you know your “help” isn’t going to be appreciated, then don’t offer it! I suppose if you encountered a drowning man, you’d give him a lecture on why he should have taken swimming lessons, and call that “help” – and then say bad things about him if he didn’t appreciate your type of “help.”
Anyway, you’ve had your last bite at this apple (no pun intended) – you’ve earned a place in my bit bucket. Normally I don’t like to engage in censorship, but in your case I’ll make an exception.
And if anyone else doesn’t agree with me on this, there are thousands of other blogs out there – go find one you like. I’m not writing for Apple fanboys, because the more I use my Mac the more I hate the damn thing. Just because someone switches does NOT mean they are going to like what they’ve switched to, and there’s a lot of things about OS X that I really hate. Apple’s hardware is great (or at least adequate), but some of their software is truly shit.
And Finder is still a flaming piece of sewage, in my opinion. I’m not even going to say humble opinion – if I’m the one who has to use the piece of shit than I’m entitled to have any opinion about it I want, and humility be damned. If you like it feel free to use it, but quit trying to convince me that it’s not a piece of shit, because it is, and that’s just a fact. Maybe not in your world, but it is in mine!
Jonathan said
Hey michigantelephone. I’m a mac professional and I stumbled onto this site after Googling: “tiling two finder windows”. You simply cannot do this in OS X. Both Exposé and Spaces perform completely different functions to the one that you so succinctly explain – that for which I also crave – and anyone who cannot understand that, is a bumbling idiot. I just wanted to say that, despite the chronicles above, not all mac users are utter morons. I still hate Windows, and I wouldn’t say that Finder “sucks”… but its not having a simple tile feature is pretty lame. Don’t get me started on the green maximize button!
Regards. PS: Kindly drop me an email if you ever solve the problem.
michigantelephone said
Thank you, Jonathan, for reminding me that not all Mac users are borderline insane (I knew that, but was starting to wonder after some of the responses above). Anyway, I don’t know if it would help your issue with the green maximize button, but have you ever seen the free program called RightZoom? You can read more about it at http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/30591
Jonathan said
Sweet! You just fixed Safari and Finder! (And probably most other apps…) Just a pity that iTunes completely ignores RightZoom cos it’s “special”. Thanks, bro.
Mike Oligny said
I’m going to resist the urge here… In Exposé preferences, turn on “Application Windows” … seriously.
michigantelephone said
I have a great idea… why don’t you folks that think that “Application Windows” is such a great idea try taking a picture of an automobile, then drive it around for a while.
What, you can’t drive a picture of an automobile? Well, YOU CAN’T ACTUALLY USE PICTURES OF OPEN FINDER WINDOWS as if they were REAL, WORKING Finder windows. In particular, you can’t grab and move files from one picture of a Finder window to another picture of a Finder window!
Come on folks, hop on the moron train before it leaves the station — be the next to suggest that Spaces or Exposè is the solution here. Honestly, I’ve never seen so many people willing to display their lack of intelligence and/or reading comprehension as in this thread.
(Yeah, I know, I’m to the point that I’m so disgusted that I’m insulting my readers. Rest assured, it’s intentional – if you can’t understand the difference between a picture of a window and an actual working window, then you deserve whatever insults I may hurl in your general direction).
Mike Oligny said
I will be the first to admit I did not read the entire article – I stumbled upon it looking to see if anyone else was as pissed as I was about the “new” Finder in Snow Leopard. I saw something about how Exposé would be great if it would show only Finder windows, searched a couple times to see if anyone had mentioned “Application Windows”, and, failing to find it, figured I better post the obvious immediately.
To be clear, I’m with you on the usability issues, though I think Exposé hot-corners are much more usable than you suggest. It matters which corners, though. I think Spotlight is useless, so top right corner is great for me – All Applications on that one. Bottom left? You can’t resize windows by that corner (grr), so might as well use it too.
Personally, I use ForkLift whenever I have to do more than two seconds worth of file management. I think it’s damn near perfect; my only complaint being that it can’t seamlessly replace Finder. I assume you’ve already discussed it ad nauseam, even though it’s not actually mentioned on this page, so forgive me for beating a dead horse (again).
Anyway, I hope you don’t have an aneurysm on account of us stupid readers. In order to mitigate your obviously ridiculous level of stress, you might want to check out “power off” and possibly even “outside” some time in the near future.
PS. Wrong accent.
michigantelephone said
Okay, I have to ask (since I don’t plan on upgrading to Snow Leopard, because it appears that if I do, my Samsung ML-1740 printer is likely to become non-functional, and I do need to be able to print things now and then)… what’s wrong with the “new” Finder? Could they really have made it even worse than it already is?
As for my level of stress, it just annoys me when people suggest the same things I’ve already said won’t do what I want. You are obviously not the most annoying reader I’ve responded to, not by a long shot, but still it gets annoying to have to keep repeating myself.
I did talk about dual-pane file managers previously (and noted that the one I keep going back to is Midnight Commander, even though it’s not a native Mac application, but it gets the job done). However, such programs are not real useful if you are trying to move files from one directory into two or more other directories — or if you are trying to move all the files of a particular type from any of several directories into one or more other directories. And with regard to ForkLift in particular, there’s one main problem — it’s not free, and there are a lot of other dual-pane file managers for the Mac (or that can be made to work on the Mac) that are free. I suppose that if I were wealthy and if I used a dual-pane file manager a lot (neither of which are true), I might be impressed by ForkLift — I’ll grant that it’s a visually appealing program. But for the “every so often” that I need to use one, I’ll stick with AntCommander or Midnight Commander or muCommander (I wonder how many of those still work under Snow Leopard?).
Colin said
Given that finder is basically a browser for the information available to your computer, both local and via connected devices and networks, wired and wireless, I can see the correlation between it and a web browser as far as having a history.
The history would essentially remember the location being viewed, the view style (list, icon etc) and could also recall the window size and position. That is not only plausible but could be quite useful.
As far as the button to resize all the finder windows so that they are all visible, this would be useful but would have limitations when the number of windows exceeds four, unless the column of places on the left of the finder windows were left out. That might render the finder impractical. The idea is sound however.
And as far as using expose and spaces – I have not bothered to read the other posts in their entirety because I can see a lot of people ignoring the main article when they write. Technically, if the Finder application were assigned to one space alone, then one could use the expose command to show all finder windows alone – but there are obvious reasons this is useless. For one, in expose the windows must be selected; the windows can’t be used as if they were original size. Also they are scaled and would be less than helpful. And then there’s the fact that having the finder windows in one space means the loss of the ability to drag and drop items to and from other application’s windows. Bad idea all round.
Personally I have gotten by with just one or two finder windows by allowing the window to go to a new location as I drop a file, then using the back button to return to my previous location. Slow and tedious but I don’t have to do it often.
By the way the first word in the article is “what”.
-Colin
[Reply: Fixed the first word - thanks!]
Colin said
I have just read many of the posted comments and i must say people are arrogant and frankly stupid. “Anonymous” for example. Why post if not with the intention of adding to the solution?
Here are my two cents and some pocket lint:
Nothing is perfect. Not Apple. Not Microsoft. The fact is Linux in all it’s forms is for people who can afford to, and want to “geek about” trying to get things to work. It’s cheap though.
For the majority of people Windows and Mac operating systems are the choices. Windows has always left much to be desired for me, and not just graphically. For some reason I have always found the file browser “Explorer” to be less straight-forward than the Mac “Finder”. But I certainly have bones to pick with Finder, for example the inability to search everywhere on my hard drive when I type a known good key word. Mind you, Windows XP search is less usable, it seems. Neither is sufficient.
The availability of Mac software is less prominent than that of Windows. And the lack of virus’ on Mac is almost entirely due to the smaller numbers of people using Mac OS, something that will change someday, sadly.
The only really good points I can think of for Apple and their products are that:
-The computers look better, usually. This is not in order of importance.
-The operating systems are generally easier to use, save for the learning curve inherent with any operating system. Remember Apple pioneered the personal computer graphical user interface, so they had better be good at it. Windows actually borrowed it’s name from the window panes that were a part of the operating system Apple created.
-Apple spends time and effort developing new things, something Microsoft prefers not to do as it cuts into profits.
There are bad points too:
-Apple has made some really bad quality goofs in their logic boards in some models. With persistence they do give in and replace the defective parts for free or at a discount but it is both costly and poor business practice to have to do this in the first place. PC’s do this too but seriously, come on!
-In the compact Mac’s the logic board is more than a motherboard. It encompasses everything but RAM and wireless cards. None of the components can be replaced for the purposes of upgrading. No CPU or GPU upgrades unless you own a tower Mac. This has nothing to do with the software, which is where Apple generally shines, be it the operating system or professional video editing applications, but is a consideration nonetheless.
In the end the net difference is fairly minimal really. Either you like the operating system you get used to, either it does what you need and want or it doesn’t. For some people they both do, for some none do. Oh and as far as prices go, Mac’s and PC’s are very close when you consider the things needed for each setup. In the end the price is very similar, it’s the distribution of costs that’s different.
So to summarize, those who feel any one company is purely good and any other is purely bad is stupid. Also, computers shouldn’t require people to know all about computers to run them – that’s why we have computers folks, to do things we would otherwise not be able to do. Think of the computer in Star Trek the Next Generation – nothing could be simpler to use. That sort of usability should be our goal, and it won’t be found in foolish bickering about the finicky details of an operating system that will be archaic in ten years.
Bogdan said
The similar problem for me! I have found your blog via Google searching for my move files scenario solution. Quote of my question in the apple support forum:
Hi, I am new Mac switcher, please help me with:
Scenario: Finder windows S (source) contains a lot of files which needs sorting, other Finder windows D1, D2, D3 are destionations. Each Finder window previously was tuned to show specific folder.
I am starting move (drag and drop) each file in S (source) and want to move file “F1″ to D1 window, other file “F2″ to D2, etc, etc.
Please imagine a lot of destination Finder windows are opened, and these windows overlap each other on the screen.
How to select destination Finder window (D1, D2, D3 ,…) if drag and drop is started?
“Command + ~” doesn’t work in this case. But it works for other application, for example: I can start drag and drop file, than switch to Mail by command + tab, than select any opened Mail window by “command + ~”.
Using F10 (like Expose for current application) is uncomfortable, because using touchpad and keyboard Fn+F10 is problematic (switch off “Fn” pressing can’t help also).
Please, help me find how to switch to another Finder window if drag and drop is started? Thank you!
Roy Dains said
I’ve been an Apple user since the Apple IIe (folks, that’s almost 30 years ago). I’m an Art Director at an ad agency and use a Mac for design work every single day, from 8 to 12 hours a day. I’ve loved every new version of the Mac, and marvelled at the advances in every new operating system.
HOWEVER… the finder in OSX (10.5) is frustrating, odd, and strangely seems to find almost NOTHING that you’re looking for!! That is not just my complaint… our entire staff complains of that same thing every single day. Up until OSX (10.4), you click “command-f,” type in your word, and find your needed file on any drive!! Then, with system 10.5, all of a sudden I have no idea what drive the finder is searching, why its finding the files it does, and why it can’t find something when I can have the directory open and see the file right in front of me!!! What the HECK is that all about?
I use an aftermarket utility called LiveSearch that is fast and easy and gives me more results than any OS finder since OS9!! I don’t think they make LiveSearch any more, but a reasonable replacement is PathFinder, which is still available as shareware.
I hope I helped the other frustrated Mac lovers out there!
Power-user said
Just a few words to support your request in the middle of quite a large number of time-wasting comments.
I agree with you, tiling windows for real in Mac does not exist. Furthermore it looks like some readers don’t really understand the difference between the eye-candy Expose feature which provides nothing else than an overview of all apps or current app windows (F9 vs F10).
Let me kill the various options around to help people understand that MacOS is missing a few of the basics of what a powerful GUI should have:
- afloat2 : it does not work with Finder – killed
sorry to laugh at this but Apple communicate on Windows being ugly full of crap etc… but look at the length of the script needed to get this tiling stuff check this: http://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?pid=49916
- 2-size : might be good but it has to be max 4 windows and even using size-up supposed to be more featured, it’s still does not do what you want to achieve – killed
- Applescript:
Not tested it myself so will not kill it. It might partly provide you with something but certainly not what you have requested (mainly because I am sure it does not exist yet).
What you have described is nothing else than a new feature for whatever big cat name used for the next Mac OS release.
Spaces is good when you want to park windows and dedicate workspace to a set of them only. Here you want a feature to work on all of them at the same time without wasting your time on many user interactions just to get your workspace set up….
I hope you won’t move to dual screen as the life for dual screen is even worse. I would like something that could behave like Multimon but no chance to get that…
I have started to wonder if power users working with Apple interface really exist…
Natural next step is to move to command line but then, to me, it’s like moving to UNIX world and certainly not using the heavily advertised wonderful MacOS GUI environment….
Don’t take me wrong but I think that Midnight commander is actually an efficient alternative (again it comes from UNIX world… so it’s not Mac related)
Be sure there will always be some people asking “why do you do that this way?”, easy answer is : “because apparently I can in other environment and it saves me some time” and it’s actually users who would argue on features efficiency that will make environments evolve.
All the best on your search for a functional environment…