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Moving & Resizing Windows

Overview

Both operating systems let the user move and resize windows to aid multi-tasking. Mac OS X and Windows XP differ slightly in their implementations, however.

Mac OS X

There are three main types of windows in OS X, each of which has its own rules for moving:

Standard windows, with a clearly separated titlebar and toolbar (i.e., Preview or Sherlock)

Unified windows, with a titlebar and toolbar that appear as one piece (i.e., Mail or System Preferences)

Metal windows, which have the appearance of brushed metal (i.e., Calculator or Address Book)

Standard windows can only be moved by dragging their titlebar. Unified windows can be moved by dragging anywhere within the titlebar/toolbar area. Brushed metal windows can be moved from any brushed metal portion of the window.

All three types of windows can only be resized with the resize handle at their lower-right corner, which has one large usability issue - if a window is located at the right and/or bottom of the screen, you will need to move it in order to make room in which to drag the resize handle. If the window's lower-right corner is off-screen, you will have to move the window before you will be able to resize it! Also, because the resize handle is located in the corner, you cannot specifically resize the window only in one direction (to adjust just its width, for example) unless your mouse movements are precise.

Windows XP

All windows are moved by dragging their titlebar:

Some applications, such as Windows Media Player, have a custom look and lack a standard titlebar. Usually, these applications can be moved by dragging anywhere on their interface.

XP's windows can be resized from any edge or corner, making no less than eight different locations from which you can resize a window. This has two main advantages:

• You can always resize a window, regardless of its location on the screen
• You can resize a window in one direction only without precise mouse movements

Of course, having multiple resize locations (especially near other functions, such as the window's minimize/maximize/close buttons) makes it more likely that you will accidentally resize a window.

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Conclusion

OS X's multiple window appearances each abide by different moving rules, which is more complicated than XP's method of moving all windows by their toolbar only (sans applications like Windows Media Player that have custom interfaces). In addition, OS X's sole resize corner is often too restrictive, forcing the user to move the window if necessary to manually create space in which to resize it. XP's multiple resize handles let the user resize any window regardless of location, and also allow for resizing in specific directions only.

Mac OS X: 5
Windows XP: 8

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