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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Panther Application Switcher

Panther Application Switcher
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Detrius
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Oct 3, 2003, 08:32 PM
 
I'm sorry if this has already been posted, but I just noticed in 7B74 that command-tab now brings up an MS Windows-like list of the currently running programs.
ACSA 10.4/10.3, ACTC 10.3, ACHDS 10.3
     
Catfish_Man
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Oct 3, 2003, 09:30 PM
 
iirc, that's been in since the WWDC build.
     
graveguy
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Oct 4, 2003, 02:42 AM
 
Originally posted by Catfish_Man:
iirc, that's been in since the WWDC build.
It's been there since then, and it has sucked since then...I'm not running the latest version, I think I'm back on 64 or something, but this is one of the few downgrades in Panther...does ANYONE like it better in Panther than in 10.2? The icons don't come up in a consistent order.

Has it gotten any better in recent builds?
     
Ken Masters
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Oct 4, 2003, 02:43 AM
 
Well, Command Tab, on windows is x10 more functional than on the MAC.

It�s well perfect.

I find it ridiculously dysfunctional on the MAC, and never use it. For example, if you have 3 docs in WORD, you cant just command tab them, you can only switch between apps. Windows allows you to switch between each app and each document simple and easy.

I never thought I can say that about windows, but command tab is much better on the dark side.
     
midwinter
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Oct 4, 2003, 02:55 AM
 
Originally posted by Ken Masters:
Well, Command Tab, on windows is x10 more functional than on the MAC.

It�s well perfect.

I find it ridiculously dysfunctional on the MAC, and never use it. For example, if you have 3 docs in WORD, you cant just command tab them, you can only switch between apps. Windows allows you to switch between each app and each document simple and easy.

I never thought I can say that about windows, but command tab is much better on the dark side.
Command + Tab cycles through open applications.

Command + Tilde (~) cycles through windows within an application. If you have 5 Word documents open, this will cycle through them.

Having both options is very, very handy.

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Vader�s Pinch of Death
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Oct 4, 2003, 02:56 AM
 
Originally posted by Ken Masters:
Well, Command Tab, on windows is x10 more functional than on the MAC.
Can you give us the 10 reasons?

"If it's broke, you choke."
     
graveguy
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Oct 4, 2003, 03:01 AM
 
Originally posted by Ken Masters:
Well, Command Tab, on windows is x10 more functional than on the MAC.
As far as I know, Apple-Tilde(~) is the preferred OSX command to flip between open windows within an app (although it is implemented on an application to application basis (it comes for free in Cocoa apps))...

I like the fact that OSX distinguishes between switching between apps and switching between documents within the app...but the Panther app switcher harkens back to Windows 3.x...it's much better looking, of course, but the behavior is unintuitive and inconsistent...
     
Simon
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Oct 4, 2003, 03:39 AM
 
Originally posted by Ken Masters:
Well, Command Tab, on windows is x10 more functional than on the MAC.

It�s well perfect.

I find it ridiculously dysfunctional on the MAC, and never use it. For example, if you have 3 docs in WORD, you cant just command tab them, you can only switch between apps. Windows allows you to switch between each app and each document simple and easy.

I never thought I can say that about windows, but command tab is much better on the dark side.
299 posts on a Mac board and you still don't know that it's Mac as in Macintosh and not MAC as in Media Access Control.

Get a clue, especially when you tell us about the great benefits of Windows.
     
Cipher13
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Oct 4, 2003, 04:40 AM
 
WTF? I never heard about this... why? What are they thinking? Is there a way to go back to how 10.2 does it?
     
voodoo
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Oct 4, 2003, 05:15 AM
 
W T F !!

Why the ...

I don't believe 10.3 got through developer testing without criticism of this **** feature.

This is something I've ALWAYS despised in windos.

There is something wrong with the UI people at Apple.
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CharlesS
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Oct 4, 2003, 05:23 AM
 
Originally posted by Ken Masters:
Well, Command Tab, on windows is x10 more functional than on the MAC.

It�s well perfect.

I find it ridiculously dysfunctional on the MAC, and never use it. For example, if you have 3 docs in WORD, you cant just command tab them, you can only switch between apps. Windows allows you to switch between each app and each document simple and easy.

I never thought I can say that about windows, but command tab is much better on the dark side.
Open a Windows app that uses the MDI interface, and you'll find it behaves exactly the same way the Mac does.

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Michel Fortin
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Oct 4, 2003, 06:25 AM
 
Originally posted by midwinter:
Command + Tilde (~) cycles through windows within an application. If you have 5 Word documents open, this will cycle through them.
I wish I could use this with my keyboard layout. To type a tilde (~) I must type opt-�. But cmd-opt-� does not work for whatever reason.
     
Simon
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Oct 4, 2003, 06:27 AM
 
Originally posted by Michel Fortin:
I wish I could use this with my keyboard layout. To type a tilde (~) I must type opt-�. But cmd-opt-� does not work for whatever reason.
Then try command-<

That should work on German and French keyboards.
     
RoofusPennymore
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Oct 4, 2003, 07:41 AM
 
I am a long time Winders hater. But I like the new switching vs the old.

In the old way it would use the dock as the display for switching apps. I found this more distracting since I would have to look over to where my dock was. If I have lots of apps in it and magnification wouldn't be on it could be hard to tell.

The new way just pop us only the currently running apps right in the middle of ths screen.

IMHO
---I'm on a low Microsoft diet.
     
Spaztik
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Oct 4, 2003, 08:38 AM
 
The 10.3 switcher would be nicer if it had contextual menus and a way to make the icons smaller... I use LiteSwitchX right now... it works in Jaguar and Panther. It's way more customizable than the Panther piece of crap.
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rmongold
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Oct 4, 2003, 09:47 AM
 
While I agree that it would be nice to have a preference that allowed for scaling of the icons shown in the new App Switcher, I find it much more intuitive than the previous Dock-only implementation... Not only that, but I am quite fond of the way it allows for mouse interaction as well (something that I don't believe Windows allows).
     
lookmark
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Oct 4, 2003, 01:10 PM
 
I first thought that the command-tab behavior in 10.2 was an interesting compromise... and soon found that it was a pretty flawed compromise. It just involves much too much stepping through the Dock, and hopping over inactive items is visually quirky and even confusing.

Command-tabbing in load order -- as opposed to 10.2's last app used, then Dock order -- is just much more efficient. I'd be using LiteSwitch right now if I wasn't irritated by it's overpricing.
     
businezguy
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Oct 4, 2003, 01:39 PM
 
Hopefully Expose will resolve all of this. I agree that Windows has a better implementation of command-tab right now ONLY because it displays the selected app in a little icon displayed in the middle of the monitor when you switch (so you know which app you've switched to). Panther has this functionality also in Panther, one of the few things Apple has copied from Windows. Still, Expose is even more useful.
Dual 1 ghz MDD with 80 gig and 1.25 DDR
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keston
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Oct 4, 2003, 02:32 PM
 
I use Liteswitch X also. I hope there is a way to turn off the panther switcher, because LSX is alot better still.

Originally posted by Spaztik:
The 10.3 switcher would be nicer if it had contextual menus and a way to make the icons smaller... I use LiteSwitchX right now... it works in Jaguar and Panther. It's way more customizable than the Panther piece of crap.
     
Dirk Lenz
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Oct 4, 2003, 03:33 PM
 
Originally posted by Simon:
Then try command-<

That should work on German and French keyboards.
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pat++
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Oct 4, 2003, 03:49 PM
 
Originally posted by Simon:
Then try command-<

That should work on German and French keyboards.
Merci beaucoup
     
danengel
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Oct 4, 2003, 04:00 PM
 
Command-tabbing in load order -- as opposed to 10.2's last app used, then Dock order
So the order of the applications in Panther's switcher never changes? It would be very distracting if it would.

Some I-know-it-better approaches in the UNIX world put the active application at the front of the queue, which reorders it all the time. I hate WindowMaker because of this.
     
lookmark
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Oct 4, 2003, 04:53 PM
 
Originally posted by danengel:
So the order of the applications in Panther's switcher never changes? It would be very distracting if it would.
Yes, it does change -- "load order", to my mind, means apps in the order you've used them, not the order you opened them. (I suppose that would be "boot order" or something.)

IMO the Panther application switcher is not at all distracting and is tons more useful than earlier versions. If you want an application list that doesn't reflect load order, just point and click using the Dock... or use a super-customizable 3rd party shareware switcher like Keyboard Maestro, LiteSwitch, or App Switcher.
     
danengel
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Oct 4, 2003, 06:07 PM
 
Originally posted by lookmark:
Yes, it does change -- "load order", to my mind, means apps in the order you've used them, not the order you opened them.
Well then, is it handy? I like 10.2's behaviour when I switch a lot between the same 2 apps. When it's 3 or more apps, it's disturbing, the mix of "last app" and "dock order" switching.

10.0 had "dock order" only, IIRC. Panther seems to be "last app" only in contrast.
     
Lord Sith
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Oct 4, 2003, 11:14 PM
 
IMO the Panther application switcher is not at all distracting and is tons more useful than earlier versions. If you want an application list that doesn't reflect load order, just point and click using the Dock... or use a super-customizable 3rd party shareware switcher like Keyboard Maestro, LiteSwitch, or App Switcher. [/B]
LiteSwitch X has done this for quite some time. It is user configurable as far as loading order, Show/Hide, etc.
     
lookmark
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Oct 4, 2003, 11:46 PM
 
Originally posted by danengel:
Well then, is it handy? I like 10.2's behaviour when I switch a lot between the same 2 apps. When it's 3 or more apps, it's disturbing, the mix of "last app" and "dock order" switching.

10.0 had "dock order" only, IIRC. Panther seems to be "last app" only in contrast.
I agree -- cycling two apps is fine in 10.2, but anything more is quite annoying. I think it works the way it always should have in Panther. It's very handy. It's really very similar to LiteSwitch; check it out (there's a demo that's free for 30 days) if you want to get a sense how it works.

Originally posted by Lord Sith:
LiteSwitch X has done this for quite some time. It is user configurable as far as loading order, Show/Hide, etc.
Right. I said you always can check out a 3rd party app switcher like LiteSwitch et al. if you need more options than what Apple gives you.
     
ccrider
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Oct 4, 2003, 11:47 PM
 
Keyboard Maestro does all of this and more, giving hotkeys to show/hide all, many macros, the ability to click on on icon in switcher pallete to quickly switch, as well as quitting from the pallete, etc.

Does Apple's swither allow you to hide when switching or quit apps? Curious..
     
ddma
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Oct 5, 2003, 12:29 AM
 
Please, people, do you know what is Expos�?
     
Lord Sith
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Oct 5, 2003, 01:14 AM
 
Originally posted by ddma:
Please, people, do you know what is Expos�?

Sure, It's management.

The forum title reads "Panther Application Switcher".
     
Lord Sith
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Oct 5, 2003, 01:18 AM
 
Originally Posted By:Lookmark

Right. I said you always can check out a 3rd party app switcher like LiteSwitch et al. if you need more options than what Apple gives you.


Sorry Lookmark didn't completely finish reading your post.

Sorry about the redundance.
     
danengel
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Oct 5, 2003, 05:17 AM
 
Please, people, do you know what is Expos�?
Sure, It's management. The forum title reads "Panther Application Switcher".
Still, I'd like to know if Expos� could replace Alt-Tab. Has any regular Panther user found Expos� useful?
     
Simon
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Oct 5, 2003, 06:39 AM
 
Originally posted by Dirk Lenz:
Vielen Dank!
Bitte. Gern geschehen.

Originally posted by pat++:
Merci beaucoup
Je vous en prie.

     
Kiddo311
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Oct 5, 2003, 06:44 AM
 
i have started using it extensively about five minutes after the install =).

expose almost completely killed my habit of putting every unused window into the dock =)

very nice how everything just keeps running i.e.: movies, itunes visualizer etc....

Kiddo
     
Michel Fortin
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Oct 5, 2003, 08:36 AM
 
Originally posted by Simon:
Then try command-<

That should work on German and French keyboards.
I'm glad it works for some people, but I'm using a Canadian CSA keyboard. To type a less than (<) it's opt-, and typing cmd-opt-, does not work either.

With some guessing I've found that cmd-� works however.

What I still do not understand is why in Safari cmd-opt-L does not work to bring the Download panel (I get a system alert sound), cmd-opt-A for the activity panel works however. The same in Mail with cmd-opt-M.
     
RoofusPennymore
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Oct 5, 2003, 08:50 AM
 
Originally posted by danengel:
Still, I'd like to know if Expos� could replace Alt-Tab. Has any regular Panther user found Expos� useful?
I have. Have to use be carfull not to be so sloppy with the cursor up in the upper corner now. Still I find myself using Alt-Tab (aka control-tab) often.

I suspect they put that in there for Winders switchers.
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