I've used Windows since version 2.0 and never understood why people run all their apps maximised, it defeats the whole point of using Windows in the first place - although Mac OS (or System as it was called back then) at that time was single tasking, so it was generally full screen, apart from the finder.

I'm a man, not a woman. I don't multi-task. I only need to see one app at a time, so it might as well fill the screen.

Now I run everything at appropriate sizes on my Mac (despite only being a thirteen-and-a-bit inch laptop screen), but I've very rarely laid out my screen in the same way in windows. I think one simple thing is that the default behaviour of the maximise button on OS-X is to maximise to the requirements of the window (within screen limits) on a lot of apps, where as on Windows it maximises to available screen size.

You'd've thunk that being able to resize from all sides of a window would encourage tidy lay-outs in Windows, as it is frustrating not being able to at times!

Yeah, that is the main thing that bugs me with OS X, because I tend to have the browser flush against the right screen edge, which means, if I open a wider website, instead of just resizing the window, I need to drag it to the left, resize, drag to left, resize, until it fits...

Really? On my Macs I just click the green + radio-button and the window resizes automatically to the dimensions of the 'site.

Mark

So do I. I think the smart maximising functionality is more of a plus than not being able to resize is a negative.

On mine, it normally maximises to fill the whole screen...

Plus, I generally only want the main body of information, I leave out the adverts or flashing links to other stories which often sit in the margins.

I have two screens and three spaces.

Space 1 is my active space, I use it for work, movie watching, internet browsing, gaming, etc, etc...
Space 2 is just for emails, it seems a waste when I think about it, but it seems to work for me
Space 3 is for media editing, this is on it's own space because I don't do a lot of it, but when I do encoding often takes ages and I don't want to minimise the app or have it in the way of other apps/the Desktop.


Above is space 1. I'm currently doing a worksheet about refactoring code (fun fun fun). Eclipse will usually be full screen, but other apps rarely are (seriously, how many apps actually looks good full screened at 1680x1050?).
If I'm using TeXShop for LaTeX then I'll have TeXShop taking up half of the left screen with a preview of the document taking up the other half. The right screen is for reference (PDF's, calendar, emails, web sites, etc) or for things that don't constantly need my attention (SSH connections, compilers compiling something, etc).

Perhaps slightly interesting now is what people do when minimising apps to the Dock. I still have them minimise to their own block near the Trash can rather than minimise to their app icon.

That is sooooooooooo PC

I use 2 x 19" screens.

I tend to work with the left hand screen as my input screen and the right hand screen as the reference screen. It doesn't seem to matter what the software is it generally ends up that way around.

How anybody can survive with only one normal ( <20" ) sized screen is completely beyond me.

my usual layout:

firefox full-screened
messenger and live mail windows, open but behind FF so it doesnt waste time with the silly "slurpy" animation from taskbar
winamp minimized, as i control in through keyboard media buttons/buttons on Aero Peek

any other apps are usually windowed, and again just hidden behind FF rather than wasting time with minimizing

oh and my background is The Amazing Horse

I hardly ever use maximised windows as I normally have a slideshow gadget running. Also I frequently run movies in a small window when I'm browsing. The only exception is when I'm watching something and giving it my full attention on full screen.