Colin Harman

“Window Management” (the organization of multiple application windows on your desktop) can become a definite chore in OS X given the fact that it doesn’t really have anything built in to help you do so. However, creativity thrives where void and necessity meet head on so of course there are a plethora of third party apps that meet this need. We all know that the little green button at the top of all your windows is an erratic joke that never acts the same in any two apps, but we’ll just excuse that shortcoming for the time being. Now, here is where my method is a little ridiculous but I have yet to find a better solution. I wish I was telling you about the perfect app, but I haven’t discovered it, so instead I will tell you about the 3 (yes, three) that I use to manage windows each having their varying strong suite. The three I will talk about are Divvy, Cinch, & SizeWell.

Divvy:

Divvy, by Mizage, is a great app that uses a combination of the keyboard and mouse. According to their Website Divvy is an entirely new way of managing your workspace. It allows you to quickly and efficiently “divvy up” your screen into exact portions. I use this one mostly on my MacPro with the two 27″ displays, simply because something like cinch which can only split or full screen the windows is a bit ridiculous. I mean, I like looking at a Web site super wide, but that’s also a lie.

When I need to have a half-a-dozen or so windows organized neatly, this is what I go to to quickly handle them all at once. You can setup keyboard location shortcuts (similar to those of SizeWell) but they’re not the most intuitive on setting up so I rarely use them. But when I’ve got a lot of various windows to organize all at once, I first turn to Divvy. You can see a demo video of it in action: here.

Available on the Mac App Store for $14 (but if you wait around the web for a while while you test out the trial, sites like AppSumo at times tend to run it as a special for around $6, just sayin’.

Cinch:

Cinch is quick little app by Irradiated Software who clearly found their inspiration from a little window management bit added to Windows 7. Cinch is described on their Web site as a simple, mouse-driven window management by defining the left, right, and top edges of your screen as ‘hot zones’.

So, basically you just drag a window until the mouse cursor enters one of these zones then drop the window to have it cinch into place. It’s not the most advanced window management tool ever and is much less useful on a multi-screen setup, but for a laptop or anytime you need to view to items side by side, it’s perfect. You can see a quick demo of it’s simple but incredibly handy functionality: here.

I love supporting little apps like these because you know that Apple will soak up their idea into the next iteration of OS X, so thank them for the hours of time trying to get the exact half of your screen for that window with your mouse by buying their app on the Mac App Store for $7.

SizeWell

SizeWell is a little bit different than the other two I’ve mentioned because it addresses the uselessness of the “little green button” in OS X. Now it’s able to do that system wide by acting as a SIMBL plugin rather than being a standalone app. It is one I probably use the most since it is riddled with a laundry list of helpful keyboard commands for many common locations for windows. It also can handle zooming and the scaling of windows as well, and it’s one you definitely need to see in action to have a full grasp of it’s potential. Check out the demo: here.

Here’s the best part, this one’s free. It’s technically in Beta but has been in Beta for months and months now without many bugs or much revision either, so until they quit draggin’ their feet, enjoy! You can of course donate to their cause via PayPal on their promo page so be sure to help them out if you dig it.

So I like lists. I love to-do lists. I can’t express the satisfaction I get when ticking off the little completed box on an item in my Things application. I use things everyday, multiple times a day and I’m not gonna lie, though it’s a little bit pricey on the surface, when coupled with it’s iPhone App, it’s worth every penny. It syncs over Wi-Fi using the bonjour protocol, so no matter where I am, I always know what I’ve got on my plate, what’s coming down the pipes, or even what I need to remember to get at the grocery store.

Things is a beautifully focused and amazingly intuitive task manager. Other task managers either oversimplify or are too difficult to use. Either way you are not getting stuff done. Things instead has the right balance between ease of use and powerful features.

I have tried other apps like this in the past, (Remember The Milk, Process, Curio, Omni, etc) but have never had the experience that I’ve had with Things by Cultured Code. It’s strange because you would think that with an application like this you would think that more is better, but in this case, less is more. It starts with the simplicity of interface design. They understand what it takes to make something minimalistic, but not lacking (that’s a tough balance). The demo is free for the Mac App, and can be downloaded here. I suggest giving it a go, you won’t regret it.

Also for the growing number of you out there that are using the iPhone as your handheld link to the world around you, the Things App for the iPhone & iPod Touch is the perfect companion (or standalone) for the desktop application. Though it’s functionality is somewhat limited in comparison to the Desktop app, it’s still a great standalone application for task management and as a GTD solution.

The interface is simple but effective, which should be expected but in many cases isn’t present in a plethora of apps. Things has received rave reviews and won a good number of awards, and even took home the best in show award at Mac World 2009.

As I’m sure you’ve already gathered, I highly recommend Things, it’s been nothing but the right solution for me since I started using it. Things, you have my vote and my everyday use.

Lastly, if you do plan on buying the iPhone app and the OSX Desktop application, there is a 20% off coupon code for the Desktop app in the “about section” of the iPhone App. Now that’s an even better deal.