How To Steal Windows 7's Best Features for Mac OS X

Knock on Windows 7 all you want, but OS X has it's fair share of quirks as well. After all, lots of folks still accuse Microsoft of stealing some of OS X's best features in their quest to make a superior OS, but perhaps its time Apple do the same. Long time Windows users who've switched to Mac might find it maddening that application switching doesn't quite work as you'd expect, or that there's no default way to tile your windows. You can champion Exposé all you want, but there are some things that Apple just doesn't get.

in the past, its easy to steal some of Windows' best features and bring them to your Mac, as heretical as that may sound. Here's how.

Lock your screen

LockTight is a small preference pane add-on that lets you configure the familiar hotkey for all your screen locking needs. Just remember, if it isn't already enabled, you'll need to ensure your Mac requires a password when exiting the screensaver — otherwise, that hotkey won't be doing you much good.

Maximize your windows

Right Zoom for Mac will alter the green button in such a way that maximized windows will fill the entire screen, eliminating the Mac's tendency for "inconvenient behavior" and "strange resizing."

Tile, organize and Snap

Window tiling works! Mostly.

ShiftIt comes to the rescue, offering a set of simple hotkeys that will move an active window around your screen however you see fit, side-by-side, or top and bottom. But unlike in Windows, you can only tile two windows at a time, leaving other apps to sulk in the background — the best you're going to get unless you run to Boot Camp.

Aero Snap-like functionality, courtesy of Cinch.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for a simpler solution, Cinch works very similarly to Windows 7's Aero Snap. Drag a window to the side of the screen, and watch it fall into place. Drag it away, and the window returns to its original size. That sort of functionality doesn't come free, however — Cinch will run you $7, or you can choose to run the app as nagware instead.

App-switching madness

Switching apps on the Mac is a pain in the ass. Command-Tab cycles through apps, and Command-Shift-Tab (or Command-`) cycles through open windows within an app, but any window minimized or living in a different space is sadly excluded. For Windows users, this is maddening.

Aero Peek. Quite simply, any complaints you've ever had about task switching in OS X are fixed with Witch — though at the cost of $19, once you've exhausted your free trial.

Know any other OS X quirks? Is there a Windows feature you just can't live without? Let us know in the comments!