Windows Vista Annoyances

Sizing, Moving, and Closing Windows

Any Windows window can cycle among three altered states:

• ▸ Maximized means that the window fills the screen; its edges are glued to the boundaries of your monitor, and you can’t see anything behind it. It gets that way when you click its Maximize button (see Figure 3-1)—an ideal arrangement when you’re surfing the Web or working on a document for hours at a stretch, since the largest possible window means the least possible scrolling.

  At this point, the Maximize button has changed into a Restore Down button (whose icon shows two overlapping squares); click this to return the window to its previous size.

  Tip

  Double-clicking the title bar—the big, fat top edge of a window—alternates a window between its maximized (full-screen) and restored conditions.

• ▸ When you click a window’s Minimize button (Figure 3-1), the window gets out of your way. It shrinks down into the form of a button on your taskbar, at the bottom of the screen. Minimizing a window is a great tactic when you want to see what’s in the window behind it.

  You can bring the window back by clicking this taskbar button, which bears the window’s name. On Aero machines (Section 2.2), this button also displays a handy thumbnail miniature when you point to it without clicking, to remind you of what was in the original window.

• ▸ A restored window is neither maximized nor minimized; it’s a loose cannon, floating around on your screen as an independent rectangle. Because its edges aren’t attached to the ...