Vista minimize preview is useless. | The Coffeehouse

turrican
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance! - Albert Einstein

When you minimize a window and hover the mouse over it in taskbar, it shows the contents of that window... well, not really. It shows the last shot of it just before you minimized it. Which is basically totally useless. ( for me )... there should be an option to allow me to see their changes "live"... if I got a couple of windows minimized, I still have to restore them to see what's going on in those. Which is really not too good when you could just hover your mouse over them see without the need to restore.

littleguru
<3 Seattle

Took you long to find that out. The issue with this is that a window that is minimized isn't redrawn, since it has been minimized. Therefore, with most of the applications, there's no way that they update their visuals while being minimized.

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

Incidentally, WMP keeps playing stuff in the preview even when minimized.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to Bas

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 2:05 PM

Am I right in assuming that there's a new API for providing updated renders for this view?

joechung

Interestingly enough, windows update properly in Flip3D mode. If Microsoft provides an API that allows developers to update their thumbnail views, I would strongly recommend that they also provide an API and UI to disable this on demand, because it's a waste of battery life on laptops (and an energy consumer of marginal benefit on desktops).

brian.shapiro
things go on as always

They're a live view for me.

edit: I think i'm wrong and some windows are only a live view when they're not minimized

CannotResolveSymbol
{insert caption here}

In reply to W3bbo

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 2:13 PM

Yeah, that's supposed to be one of the new API additions (intended for a situation like IE or Firefox where you have multiple tabs, but convenient for minimized windows as well). My only fear with opening thumbnail previews to developers is that some developers are going to abuse it and just draw a static image where Explorer would normally give a proper thumbnail.

turrican
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance! - Albert Einstein

In reply to littleguru

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 1:27 PM

I have been knowing this a goooooooooooooooooooood while... from the alpha... However, I just couldn't be arsed to post a thread about it.

Smiley

Sven Groot
My name has 9 letters. Coincidence? I think not...

In reply to turrican

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 7:48 PM

From the alpha? That's impressive, considering the live previews weren't introduced until after beta 1, if memory serves. Tongue Out

littleguru
<3 Seattle

In reply to W3bbo

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 2:13 PM

I was looking for that API - because I remember also from somewhere that there's an API - but I'm not lucky with finding it.

turrican
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance! - Albert Einstein

In reply to Sven Groot

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 11:00 PM

I don't think you undrestand my jokes.

What I meant was that it isn't something "new" and "everyone" already know about it.

You need to watch more monty phyton.

Smiley

stevo_
Human after all

uh huh..

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

In reply to turrican

#Nov 17th, 2008 @ 5:23 AM

That's funny, I could've sworn you were just making up the fact that you had seen it in the alpha because you wanted to cover up that you only just found out about it, for some reason.

evildictaitor
if( !succeed( try() ) ) { while(true) try(); }

In reply to Bas

#Nov 16th, 2008 @ 2:05 PM

The difference here is that WM_PAINT messages arn't sent to a program that's minimized, and so the default painting (via Begin/EndPaint) doesn't happen on minimised apps, but Windows media player and other realtime apps directly draw on their own DC and don't bother with listening to the WM_PAINT message.

turrican
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance! - Albert Einstein

In reply to Bas

#Nov 17th, 2008 @ 6:19 AM

Don't swear by things you don't know. I have sit infront of Windows operating system 14-19 hours a day since win95... You guys seem rather "stiff" from time to time. I recommend more monty phyton to you as well. Or perhaps a shot of benny hill.

Smiley

turrican
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance! - Albert Einstein

In reply to evildictaitor

#Nov 17th, 2008 @ 6:34 AM

Yeah, which is undrestandable why it is that way. However, my point was... I wish there would be an option to enable it. That would save a lot of time for certain people where they got a ton of windows open and minimized where stuff is happening in them and you just need to keep an eye on it basically.

evildictaitor
if( !succeed( try() ) ) { while(true) try(); }

In reply to turrican

#Nov 17th, 2008 @ 10:57 AM

I get round this by having most of my windows open and maximised, and just alt-tabbing between them. Because the ones behind the maximised window arn't actually minimised (although they arn't visible either) they still render via WM_PAINT, and thus change their tab-preview.

There is, of course, the option to ask windows to send an immediate WM_PAINT message to a handle of your choice, although I'm not sure that you can do it to windows created on a different thread to the current one in Vista.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms644944(VS.85).aspx

I've never done it myself, so it may be that it is impossible, but in principle I don't see why not.

Sven Groot
My name has 9 letters. Coincidence? I think not...

In reply to evildictaitor

#Nov 17th, 2008 @ 12:21 PM

Sending a WM_PAINT message to minimised windows doesn't work if they're not written to deal with it. If a minimised windows queries its dimensions they get the size of the taskbar button, so it's unlikely a minimised window would paint correctly if it's not designed to do so and you force it to.

turrican
Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance! - Albert Einstein

In reply to Sven Groot

#Nov 17th, 2008 @ 7:36 PM

Yeah. I think it would feel like a dirty hack. Would be cool be just a "native" option in TaskBar or something.

BHpaddock

Most minimized applications stop drawing updates as a performance optimization. If you aren't working in that app, you don't want it eating up CPU time and other resources. Even if you were willing to take the hit there would be compatibility problems in trying to "trick" existing apps into rendering when they're supposed to be minimized.

Some applications, like WMP, do continue to draw their content, and I think there is more being done in Win7 to faciliate such functionality.

Note that Mac OS X does the same thing (only special apps like QuickTime update their Dock thumbnail when minimized).

Sotcr

And this still happen in Windows 7.......

C'mon Microsoft, give us at least the option.

Here a problem becouse of this

stevo_
Human after all

In reply to Sotcr

#Jul 28th @ 10:51 PM

Won't happen considering minimized apps have no visuals.. and aren't rendered, it is clearly possible that applications that opt into providing windows with the preview are still able to work.. basically the app builders need to add the support, as they'll be the ones who can resolve any issues the app may have doing a preview when in minimized state.

CKurt
while( ( !succeed=try() ) ) { }

In reply to Sotcr

#Jul 28th @ 10:51 PM

I think they should just delete the preview of the window for a conversation and only display the nickname (top) and the contacts profile picture instead. It will be so much easier to reconize conversations that way. Wave4 please !