Have fun with a Genie Effect minimizing glitch

Feb 02, '04 11:13:00AM

Contributed by: Hes Nikke

I was setting up a client's new computer (20 inch iMac - :drool:) and installing programs. When the install of Readiris finished, its installer relaunched the dock (it had added the program to the dock). I was minimizing windows when the installer finished, and *BAM*, the minimize stopped in its tracks. The warped window still worked just fine, and all the controls worked and were where they appeared in the window -- with the exception of the resize control; finding it was a little funky.

Resizing the window worked just fine and as I made it smaller, the whole thing shrank. But if I made it bigger than its original size, the window edges disappeared as if there was a mask in photoshop. I kept on using this warped window to install programs just for the novelty of it. When I got home, I described this to a spammmy from OpenMac, and we came up with a method to reproduce this:

  1. Open Terminal (if it isn't already open)
  2. Type killall Dock, but don't push return yet
  3. Hold shift and then click the minimize button on a window not owned by Terminal
  4. Hit return to execute the kilall command.
If killall is quick enough, the dock should quit in mid-motion, and the window will stick warped. I've found that suck windows don't work right once they have touched the dock, so if that happens, bring the app that owns the window to the front, cycle though the windows until the stuck one is in front (Command-~) and close (Command-W) or minimize (usually Command-M) the window and try again. Good luck!

[robg adds: I tried this, and it's true -- you can freeze and work with strangely warped windows ... not sure it's a bug, as it's hard to anticipate and program for a force-quit during a minimize operation. Still, it's pretty funny...]

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