If you have 4 applications open and all 4 are maximized but 3 of them are behind the current window -does that drain resources more than if they were minimized? I’m trying to settle a bet.
Personally, I’d say that offhand it does not. The resources that are tied up when the programs are open are still tied up whether it is minimized or not.
So I have to conclude that No, it doesn’t matter if they are minimized or maximized. The resources are still in use regardless.
Stupendous man, aka the Boy of Destiny is correct. If you run a simple monitor of resources (Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Resource Meter in Win95/8/me), you’ll see that the resources stay the same no matter what state a window is in. (note: I ran IE, WS_FTP, Paint Shop Pro, and Navigator in my test).