# Why I maximize everything in Windows **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328 "2012-07-25T11:28:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/1 "2012-07-25T11:28:17Z")
I know I have a lot of screen space, and I can have several windows open side by side. But usually I find myself just focusing on one thing at a time, so I might as well use the whole screen for that window. Whenever I don’t have the current window maximized, I just end up with that window in the middle of the screen and one or two other windows in the background, that I end up not getting any meaningful information from anyway. Almost the only exception is when say when I am writing something and looking at a source at the same time, or when I’m programming. In those cases I sometimes end up with two windows side by side. Am I a horrible Windows-user? ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/2 "2012-07-25T11:37:44Z")
Not at all. I"m much the same way. I have two 24" monitors. That being said, I don’t see the point of not using screen space. Hence, if I’m only doing one screen, (like right now, checking the Dope before I leave for work) its maximized on one screen. Two things? Each maximized on a screen. Only when I’m doing something where I’m looking at at least three things at once do I actually use windows. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/3 "2012-07-25T11:39:59Z")
Someone in a thread recently stated that this was something they found really annoying. I don’t do it myself because I am forever jumping from one thing to another, both at work and at home, however I can’t see why anyone would care about it. If you are only using one window at a time why not maximize it? No-one would split their TV picture into several separate boxes and then only watch one channel at a fraction of the available size. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/4 "2012-07-25T11:45:35Z")
Nope, you’re rather typical, really. I know very few computer users who don’t run everything maximized at least 90% of the time. And I’ve never heard of anyone who actively gets information from another window, save in circumstances like you describe. Both Windows 8 and OS X Lion (and soon Mountain Lion) actually have started moving towards more full screen apps. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/5 "2012-07-25T11:55:39Z")
For certain minor applications that don’t have a lot of visible information, such as a small text file open in a text editor, or a calculator, it doesn’t make sense to have it take up the whole screen. But for most things, like a web browser or a spreadsheet, more screen space is generally better so I think most people run them maximised almost all the time. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/6 "2012-07-25T11:57:49Z")
I maximize everything so I can see it. Old age and visual acuity don’t mix well. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/7 "2012-07-25T12:00:47Z")
I’m with the OP. For all the reasons given in the OP. I’ve always taken it to the max. Really there are only two exceptions: 1. When translating. This is a big one for me as I’m a professional translator. I split-screen the original on the right and my work on the left to see both at once. This is because I got a wide flat-screen monitor. When I had the older kind of monitor, I had the original above and my work below. 2. When I open Notebook just to jot down some data temporarily, I often have it resized if I’m looking at another window when making notes. Otherwise, I maximize that too. Oh, I remembered one more exception. 3. My Chrome browser, at the settings I use and on this monitor, displays the less-formatted web pages with the left edge of text cut off when maximized. So I resize it, then drag the boundaries to one pixel less than max on the left, and then I can see everything. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/8 "2012-07-25T12:03:31Z")
I’ve got two 19 inch monitors. I currently have 8 applications open and only one is full screen. That on is an RDP session that itself has 6 applications open with none in full screen. I keep 10 or so often-used shortcuts on the left of the screen so having my windows non-maximized makes them easier to get to. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/9 "2012-07-25T12:16:31Z")
Research is somewhat mixed but suggests that the optimal line length for reading on a screen is about 75 - 100 characters per line. Much longer than that and the eye is forced to travel too much, making text harder to read. Well designed websites will use a fixed column layout so that the text is within the 75 - 100 cpl boundary regardless of browser size but many webpages (including the sdmb) expand text to fit the width of the window. I leave my windows scaled to a sane size so that most webpages appear reasonably readable which means it takes up about 60% of my screen horizontally. I use the rest of the screen for a condensed version of my email inbox and some active IM windows so that both can be used at a glance without having to switch contexts. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/10 "2012-07-25T12:28:06Z")
> [@Danger\_Man](#): > > Am I a horrible Windows-user? No. It’s configurable to work the way you want it precisely because we’re all different. I mean, there are such things as horrible Windows users (such as folks who never use any shortcuts, use the File\>open dialog in Word as if it’s Windows Explorer, search for Google using Google every time they want to use it, etc) - but they mostly only harm themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/11 "2012-07-25T12:33:46Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I’m with the OP. For all the reasons given in the OP. I’ve always taken it to the max. Really there are only two exceptions: > > 1. When translating. This is a big one for me as I’m a professional translator. I split-screen the original on the right and my work on the left to see both at once. This is because I got a wide flat-screen monitor. When I had the older kind of monitor, I had the original above and my work below. total hijack: Do you use any CATT at all, or is it always file vs file? /th ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/12 "2012-07-25T12:33:53Z")
I used to do that, but I’m doing it less and less now: screens are getting too wide (16:9) some websites don’t use that much space anyway (Engadget) reading too wide paragraphs is actually less efficient, like Shalmanese said. I think that’s why newspapers have columns. When you open text documents, do you turn on word wrap? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/13 "2012-07-25T12:35:06Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > I maximize everything so I can see it. Old age and visual acuity don’t mix well. Same here – plus the other reasons listed above. I don’t multi-task very well and prefer to focus on one screen at a time. I keep my task bar at double height to make it easy to see what I have open but minimized, as well as showing me the links for my favorite websites (like this one). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/14 "2012-07-25T13:03:45Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I used to do that, but I’m doing it less and less now: > screens are getting too wide (16:9) that’s true. I alleviate that somewhat by having the taskbar on the side rather than the bottom. The Windows 7 taskbar works really well in that position, unlike previous versions of the taskbar. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/15 "2012-07-25T14:14:15Z")
I have quad monitors. Usually everything is maximized, and Alt + Tab is my friend. Right now I have three Word windows on monitor 1 (two side by side, with one more directly under the one on the right), as well as a directory window and my dictionary. Monitors 2 and 3 (portrait) have one maximized Word window each; #3 also has my time tracker underneath. Monitor 4 has Thunderbird and several Firefox windows. I Alt+ Tab among different programs, or Alt+ W, [number of window] among Word files. (I always open the files in a particular order, so I always know which number is for which file for this particular type of project.) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/16 "2012-07-25T15:21:36Z")
There is no right answer, maximize or don’t maximize, whatever works for you. Software-driven devices are great because you can configure them however you want. I think this is why the lackluster maximize on Macs bothers Windows users. It also depends on the screen size, if you’re running a 4:3 aspect ratio at a low resolution, you pretty much have to maximize to see much of what you’re looking at. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/17 "2012-07-26T04:36:48Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > total hijack: > Do you use any CATT at all, or is it always file vs file? > /th I recently started working for a new company that uses some kind of CATT software. I sometimes find its computer-assisted translation features helpful, especially in reducing routine repetitive phrases. But the drawback is a tiny window space to look at the original and even tinier space to type in. What I was referring to was all the other translations I’ve always done, with a .pdf and a .doc. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-maximize-everything-in-windows/629328/18 "2012-07-26T07:26:43Z")
Thanks, it’s just something I find strange about CATT tools, that they don’t try to give to their users the look’n’feel of “manual” translation at all. Since I never learned to work doc vs doc, the single-window approach of some CATTs works well for me, but if I was making one I’d have doc vs doc as a display option. And yeah, those with the five tiny windows can be… irritating.