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Submission details

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-17 +13/-30 votes
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Restore should not have the same Win Key shortcut as Minimize

Submitted by eikonoklastes2 on January 22, 2009 to Usability

Currently, pressing Win+Down serves 2 different functions:

- When a window is maximized, it Restores it.
- When a window is not maximized, it Minimizes it.

.

Win+Down should always minimize a window regardless of its state.

Assign a different shortcut to Restore (Win+Shift+Down is a good option).

This keeps things consistent. Currently, when a window is maximized, there is no way to directly minimize it.

Low

Medium

Not fixed

Discussion (10 comments)

eikonoklastes2 wrote on January 22, 2009, 8:24am

Changed solution description.

litemininyuszika wrote on January 22, 2009, 10:48am

You can press this 2 times to minimize maximized windows.
Sorry... -1!

Dubya wrote on January 22, 2009, 8:31pm

My finding is that if you press Win+Down it minimizes the focused Winow, but pressing it again definately does not restore it again...-1

eikonoklastes2 wrote on January 23, 2009, 7:23am

Dubya, I was referring to restoring a maximized window. When you minimize a window, it loses focus and therefore there's not much you can do with it.

Thunderbuck wrote on February 2, 2009, 6:02am

It's a toggle. All up, or all down. Why make it more complicated?

-1

eikonoklastes2 wrote on February 12, 2009, 2:55pm

Why? I'll tell you why.

When I have a maximized window, I don't have a WinKey option to directly minimize it. I have to restore it first, then minimize it (2 executions), then when I bring the window back up, it's in its stupid restored state instead of the maximized state that I want it in, which means a 3rd process - manually maximizing it again.

This makes it 3 times less efficient than simply having a dedicated minimize shortcut. Go on - do the math.

Thunderbuck wrote on February 27, 2009, 11:43pm

[Alt]+[Space]+[N] Minimizes the current window, whether it's maximized or not (I learn something new every day!)

eikonoklastes2 wrote on February 28, 2009, 11:11am

It's not actually Alt+Space+N. It's Alt+Space, N. You hit the N after the Alt+Space menu shows up. This is in no way a shortcut any more than Alt+F, O is a shortcut to open a file rather than Ctrl+O.

It's just accessing the menu and using the accelerator key to execute the function.

I don't know why people are so up in arms over this. There are separate buttons for Minimize and Restore. Makes sense to have separate shortcuts for them.

Thunderbuck wrote on February 28, 2009, 11:09pm

I didn't quite understand what you were trying to get at. I do now, and I'll at least withdraw my votedown.

I've been playing with this, and I have to say I don't mind the current behaviour.

Alt+Space+N (and yes, it can be simultaneous) minimizes directly.

eikonoklastes2 wrote on March 1, 2009, 10:00am

That stuff you were saying about learning new things everyday? I never realized I could use the Alt+Space, N as a single combo. I'm now teaching my fingers to hit this combination and while it's a bit twisty, it's definitely doable.

alh84001 wrote on March 9, 2009, 12:10am

That combo has a problem. I'm using Shell Enhancer and Alt+Minimize minimizes to tray. That's what happenes with Alt+Space+N. But that's not the real issue. If you have Win+<key> combos for restoring (maximised) windows, moving them left or right, or to another monitor, it is just natural to expect same type of shortcut for minimizing windows. It's all about consistency. So +1 on this.

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