WindowMizer

Some years ago, the app WindowShade X made it possible to roll up a Mac window, so to speak, leaving nothing but a title bar. That’s tremendously useful to anyone working on a small screen. I began using this app not long after switching to a Mac in 2007.

As OS X evolved, WindowShade X stopped working. But the app has a worthy successor: RGB World’s WindowMizer (for OS X 10.6 and higher). WindowMizer has many options, among which is an option to hide its Dock icon (seen to the left) — that’s handy with an app that is always on. (Always on at least on my Macs.)

WindowMizer is not free and not exactly cheap: a $14.99 license allows installation on two machines. Given the app’s usefulness, the price is a bargain. And the app’s developer, Chris Kassa, stands by his work. E-mail him with a question or problem, as I did yesterday, and he’ll give you a friendly, helpful response. My problem: I was trying to install an old version of the app, not the more recent version for which I have a license. Chris figured that out, not me.

Before there was WindowMizer, before there was WindowShade X, and before there was OS X, there was WindowShade, built into the Mac operating system. A post at RGB World tells the story: History of WindowShade.


[A Chrome window, rolled up with WindowMizer.]