Just for the record, I usually have a number of apps and windows active at
once, but each of them is maximized -- meaning I'm not using them in the
overlapping window paradigm. Only in Smalltalk do I normally have a number
of non-maximized overlapping windows going at once. [BTW, I assume most here
know you can expand the Start bar to have two or more rows of buttons.]

Has anyone here experimented with creating windows with the title bar and
other machinery to the left or right of the window? It would seem to be a
much better match to the usual landscape screen layout, since you have more
space to play with horizontally.

-- Dwight

Jerome Garcia wrote:
> 
>      Peter William Lount wrote:
> 
>      >
>      Hey, I DON'T represent that remark! :-b
>      >
> 
>      Hey! Me too, Me too!
> 
>      I am very often working with lots of windows associated with at least
>      3 VisualWORKS images running simultaneously plus MS Word, Adobe
>      Acrobat Reader, and InternetExplorer. And yes, I can write documents,
>      debug code, and alter user interfaces efficiently in this mode and
>      therefore prefer it. As Peter, I use the task bar a lot and I want to
>      choose which windows I bring to the front not have someone determine
>      what is best for me. I also agree with Peter that it would be nice to
>      be able to better organize and operate on all of an applications
>      windows when desired.
> 
>      Just my two cents :-)
> 
>      Jerome
> 
> ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
> Subject: Re: Thinking about a better UI
> Author:  "Peter William Lount" <peter at smalltalk.org> at INTERNET
> Date:    4/15/99 1:53 AM
> 
> jecel at lsi.usp.br wrote:
> >
> > I find it very ironic that none of the Windows users I know actually do
> > use "windows". All their applications run in the "maximized" mode and
> they
> > switch between them using the buttons on the bar at the bottom of the
> > screen.
> 
> Hey, I DON'T represent that remark! :-b
> 
> I use lots of windows. When browsing the net for instance I'll have 10 or
> 20 browsers open (until Windows9X crashes because it runs out of DOS
> Compatible graphics memory which is only has 64K of ;--(.
> 
> I love lots of windows.
> 
> I rarely maximize a window as doing this prevents me from switching or
> seeing the progress of other windows...
> 
> Now the contrast. I work with someone who only works with Maximized windows
> and can't handle it if I am using his computer and use lots of overlapping
> windows switching back and forth. For him the button bar makes a lot of
> sense.
> 
> The button bar works for me as, but it is not so nice when I have lots of
> apps each with lots of windows. In this case I can't find the window I want
> easily! It also doesn't have an option to sort the buttons alphabetically
> or by application... woops...
> 
> One big problem with Windows95 and the way the handle windows is that you
> can't hide all the windows of an application with one key stroke or menu
> command (unless the application only has one window open). OpenStep, now
> MacOSX, allows all the windows of an application to be hidden very quickly
> with one command. Very nice. This is where I developed my need for lots of
> windows at once. It really speeds up ones use of the computer rather
> dramatically.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Peter W. Lount
> peter at smalltalk.org
> http://www.smalltalk.org - Come and visit. ;--)
>