I just found a way to freeze a window in the middle of minimizing into the dock. Here's a screenshot. This is completely useless, and only works for Cocoa apps, but it looks pretty cool.
First just minimize a window into the dock, then un-minimize it. While it's in the middle of the genie or scale effect effect, hit command-H to hide the app (it's easier to do this during genie, since it takes longer**). Switch back to the app, and the window will be frozen, partly minimized.
[** Try a shift-option-click on the minimized window, which will expand it with "super slow mo" and then hit command-H - much easier since the window is really going slowly. -rob.]
Read the rest of this article for more information about this frozen window "feature" ... also be aware that this will more than likely make the application you're experimenting with unstable, so please consider that BEFORE trying to duplicate this effect!
You can still interact with the window. Menu commands applied to the window will usually work, sheets will show up (sorta detached from the window) if you try to save it, you can type in the window. Clicking on window elements like scroll bars and the title bar won't work, though if part of the title bar is fully un-minimized you can drag the window around with it. If you try to click in the window it will work, provided that the click hits both where the the window is now, and where it should be once it's back to normal. The click will act like it was on the normal window; so a click in the top of a frozen window could hit on a button in the bottom; you'll see what I mean if you try.
Some other strange things: If you have dock-magnification on, the window will move a bit as you move your cursor over the dock. The curved edges in the window look a bit jaggy, not perfectly curved as they appear while moving. Also, the window's drop-shadow tends to disappear. Try freezing windows with the dock on different sides of the screen; each one looks different.
Note that freezing a window like this is likely to crash whatever program it belongs to, or make the app misbehave and require a force quit.
[Editor's note: That last line is important -- the app will definitely become unstable! Don't try this with TextEdit and your unsaved 4,000 page thesis!]
First just minimize a window into the dock, then un-minimize it. While it's in the middle of the genie or scale effect effect, hit command-H to hide the app (it's easier to do this during genie, since it takes longer**). Switch back to the app, and the window will be frozen, partly minimized.
[** Try a shift-option-click on the minimized window, which will expand it with "super slow mo" and then hit command-H - much easier since the window is really going slowly. -rob.]
Read the rest of this article for more information about this frozen window "feature" ... also be aware that this will more than likely make the application you're experimenting with unstable, so please consider that BEFORE trying to duplicate this effect!
You can still interact with the window. Menu commands applied to the window will usually work, sheets will show up (sorta detached from the window) if you try to save it, you can type in the window. Clicking on window elements like scroll bars and the title bar won't work, though if part of the title bar is fully un-minimized you can drag the window around with it. If you try to click in the window it will work, provided that the click hits both where the the window is now, and where it should be once it's back to normal. The click will act like it was on the normal window; so a click in the top of a frozen window could hit on a button in the bottom; you'll see what I mean if you try.
Some other strange things: If you have dock-magnification on, the window will move a bit as you move your cursor over the dock. The curved edges in the window look a bit jaggy, not perfectly curved as they appear while moving. Also, the window's drop-shadow tends to disappear. Try freezing windows with the dock on different sides of the screen; each one looks different.
Note that freezing a window like this is likely to crash whatever program it belongs to, or make the app misbehave and require a force quit.
[Editor's note: That last line is important -- the app will definitely become unstable! Don't try this with TextEdit and your unsaved 4,000 page thesis!]
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