ZMove this!

June 14, 2009 7:51 PM

Is there a program like ZMover for OS X?

For most of my computing life, I've been a Windows user, and for a few years now, I've been using the aforementioned ZMover to keep application windows at the size and/or position I want them. My PC is currently out of commission, though, so I'm using our family's iMac until my PC is up and running again, and I am planning on finally making the switch to OS X myself over the summer. What I'm looking for, though, is a program that'll mimic ZMover's functionality in OS X.

(For those who don't know, ZMover lets you grab a window's details and then set it up so that, when ZMover is active, that window will automatically be resized/repositioned based on the criteria you give it. I use it most often to center windows on my monitor, and also to keep my browser windows at the size I like them.)

When I Googled this, I found a few programs that seem to do what I want, but only for Finder windows. I'm looking for something that will work with as many or as few applications as I want it to. If this can be done with AppleScript, that's fine too.

posted by andrewcilento to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Perhaps Sizeup will help out. It won't remember the posistions, but you can basically do split screen or tiles of the windows. I use to mostly for moving windows between monitors and I finally have a keyboard shortcut maximize a window. That alone is worth it's price.
posted by bigmusic at 8:13 PM on June 14

Enabling the "assistive device" checkbox in the Universal Access system preference will let you control windows via AppleScript.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:18 PM on June 14

Finder Window Manager looks to do a similar thing, but alas only for finder windows. I'm not aware of any other utility that does exactly what you are after on the mac system wide. Blazecock Pileon is correct though, you probably could write an Applescript that would replicate a specific window setup (using GUI scripting) but my guess is that this would be more of a pain than it's worth and would not be easy to edit.

Also, one thing you should be aware of (if you're not already) is that one of the remaining ways in which OS X and Windows really operate differently *is* window management. And I don't just mean that OS X has exposé and the dock, but rather things like the system wide menu bar and the fact it's pretty rare for you want to "maximize" windows in OS X so that a single app takes up the whole screen, which is something I find myself doing all the time on my Windows box). My point is that the the differences are subtle but distinct, and you are likely not going to be happy if you try and take your existing habits from one platform to the other entirely.
posted by dyslexictraveler at 7:21 AM on June 15

the applescript route may be the way to go. However, are you also getting familiar with the methods of window management included in OSX? I can understand your desire to get windows sized in a consistent manner (OSX's maximize button behavior still confuses me) but it's possible that some of the reasons you needed ZMover on windows are no longer a problem on OSX. My productivity and satisfaction with the OS went way up as I got used to using expose and spaces.
posted by Chris4d at 1:10 PM on June 15

Yikes, I forgot about this question. Thanks for the suggestions guys, I guess I'll delve into AppleScript a bit once I'm finally able to make the switch.

Chris4d: "the applescript route may be the way to go. However, are you also getting familiar with the methods of window management included in OSX? I can understand your desire to get windows sized in a consistent manner (OSX's maximize button behavior still confuses me) but it's possible that some of the reasons you needed ZMover on windows are no longer a problem on OSX. My productivity and satisfaction with the OS went way up as I got used to using expose and spaces."

Yeah, Expose is one of my favorite things in the world. I never maximize things even in Windows; I'm really more concerned with keeping things where I want them and at the size I want them.
posted by andrewcilento at 5:51 PM on July 15