Exposé: Needs a ‘Finder windows only’ option
Posted by Pierre Igot in: MacintoshJuly 21st, 2005 • 3:25 pm
The one Exposé option that I find myself using most often is the “Desktop” one (F11 by default), which temporarily hides all windows to reveal the icons that are on the desktop itself. Like many Mac users, I use my desktop as a semi-temporary storage place for various documents and shortcuts, and Exposé provides an easy way to access it.
I don’t really use the “All windows” option (F9), simply because I have too many windows open at any given time. And I don’t use the “Application windows” option (F10) very often either, probably because I use the “Cycle Through Windows” keyboard shortcut (command-ù on my Canadian CSA keyboard) so often that I am used to accessing my application windows that way.
But there is one situation in which I often feel that an Exposé shortcut would be quite convenient. I frequently need to switch from the application in which I am working to the Finder to open a specific file, and I know that the file in question is visible in one of the Finder windows that I currently have open.
Right now, I have to switch to the Finder first, sometimes use “” to hide all other application windows, and then locate the window I am looking for. It would be great if Exposé had a shortcut for an option to move all windows away (like F11) except for Finder windows. In other words, it would be a shortcut that would automatically switch to the Finder and hide (or rather temporarily move away, like F11 does) all other windows except for Finder windows.
Now that is an Exposé option that I would most definitely use a lot.
July 21st, 2005 at Jul 21, 05 | 6:13 pm
Not 100% what you’re asking for, but within easy reach: Using an AppleScript that switches to the Finder and invokes application level Exposé.
The only problem would be that you’d need to set it up in a way that the script can easily be run at the press of a key.
July 21st, 2005 at Jul 21, 05 | 8:26 pm
The AppleScript script would also have to hide other windows, but then wouldn’t be able to do so temporarily, as the Exposé thing does. And I don’t really want something that moves Finder windows, like the “Application windows” option does. Just something that moves the rest away temporarily.
In other words, something best handled with a specifically designed Exposé option :).
July 22nd, 2005 at Jul 22, 05 | 11:14 am
… which you aren’t going to get.
July 22nd, 2005 at Jul 22, 05 | 11:40 am
Actually I suppose an AppleScript could just Exposé all the windows off the screen and then Inposé all the Finder windows back which is exactly the effect you want… likely slower, though.
July 23rd, 2005 at Jul 23, 05 | 11:16 am
That would be “imposé” with an “m” :-).
I might give this a try, just out of curiosity. But I suspect it would be too slow for my tastes.