Control Your Applications' Windows Using Keyboard Commands

Resizing, moving or arranging windows using custom patterns can be rather uncomfortable if you are using a trackpad, but also if you cannot approximate distances correctly. Optimal Layout is designed to give you full control over your windows using only keyboard commands.

Any notebook user constantly finds itself in the situation of having to rely only on the built in trackpad. Unfortunately, even if it gets the job done, using a trackpad can slow down one's workflow, while resizing two windows evenly can become a real challenge.

Optimal Layout is an easy to use application that allows you to switch between, move or resize your windows using keyboard shortcuts and also provides several patterns for arranging them in order to make the most of your desktop space.

One’s capacity of memorizing things represents the stepping stone when it comes to efficiently using Optimal Layout: everything is easily accessible as long as the user knows the keyboard command.

Things start easy with the shortcut that will reveal the main window (Option + Tab) but will get more challenging while exploring all that Optimal Layout has to offer.

Still, the combinations are following quite logical principles and one should be able to remember most of them after using the application for a short period of time.

To help you learn the basic commands, Optimal Layout provides a brief presentation that you can access by pressing Option + K or the Command button available in the application’s interface.

The Looks

Although Optimal Layout provides a wide range of functions, its interface tries to be rather unobtrusive. In fact, the Optimal Layout window makes its appearance only on user command, while via the Preferences window you can choose if you want to see the status bar menu or the Dock icon, or if you want to have its presence hidden completely to an uninformed eye.

Optimal Layout’s main window has three important elements: the windows list (it will display different entries even if the windows belong to the same application), the thumbnail view where you can preview the windows content (if no preview is available it will display the application’s icon) and a mini display where you can see the position of the current window (on mouse over it will be separated in five areas and clicking on one of them will set the currently selected window to that particular location).

On the bottom of the windows list you will find the buttons for enabling the window Jumping and Sticky features, the Layouts drop down menu (if several windows are selected) and the Spaces list (if Spaces are enabled). Also, on the right side of each window name, you will see the Space in which the window is currently located.

One thing I personally find a bit annoying about Optimal Layout’s main window is the fact that it cannot be moved, resized or have its appearance customized in any way, although, when active, it takes a considerable part of the screen.

Even so, the application is quite user oriented: via the Preferences you can choose to enable the autohide function (which means that the main panel will stay in front only as long as the Option key is pressed) or to keep Optimal Layout on screen until the user says otherwise (this way you will have a lot more freedom along the keyboard).

The Works

Before actually starting to use Optimal Layout I strongly recommend viewing the screencasts made available by the developer HERE. They give a quite organized and efficient presentation of what the application has to offer.

Optimal Layout is designed to provide support in five different areas: browsing, moving, resizing, arranging, but also actually controlling the windows activity (you can hide, close, minimize or zoom a window and even quit the application altogether).

The window browsing function can be accessed via the main window. Once the Optimal Layout panel is revealed simply press Tab to go though the list (Option+Shift+Tab to go backwards). Release the Option key in order to go to the currently selected window or press Enter if Optimal Layout is set to stay in front.

Moving a window around is just as simple, as long as you know the keyboard combinations (note that the shortcuts are different if Optimal Layout’s window is not active). The application also allows you to easily move a window to the center of the screen, or to a different Space or display.

Things get interesting if you enable the window jumping feature: using the arrow keys the user can set a window to occupy half or a quarter of the screen and specify which one.  Almost the same rules apply when it comes to resizing, but the novelty is represented by the Sticky function. If enabled, when you choose to resize a window the other ones will auto resize in order to occupy all the available space.

A quicker solution to this problem should be using the predefined Layouts patterns. Simply select multiple windows in the list and choose which pattern you would like to apply (Tip: to be able to browse though the drop down menu release the Option key).

The windows will be arranged taking into consideration the list order but if does not suit your needs you can simply switch their position via the Layouts menu or by pressing Option + R.

Note that the windows will be automatically resized to fit the available space and that, if the number of selected windows is bigger that the number spaces included in a certain layout pattern, the last windows will be placed on top of the last position.

On the other hand through the Preferences window you can change the list sorting method altogether. Further optimizations are available via the same area: the user can replace some of the default keyboards shortcuts or create a list of applications for which all windows will be ignored (Optimal Layout is included in the list by default).

The Good

The Bad

The Truth