OSXFAQ Mac OS X Tip-of-the-Day 
Desktop Deeds - Manage the Available Space
By Adrian Mayo - Editor - OSXFAQ
Desktop real-estate is very valuable; we never have enough of it to display all those application windows and icons. There are two choices:
1) Get a nice G5 and dual-head two 30" cinema displays. :-)
A lot of Mac models support two monitors. An old monitor or cheap eBayer can double your desktop area for little outlay.
2) Make do with what you've got and manage it better...
Hide and Seek. Make use of the Hide This and Hide Others menu items. When you flick from one application to another, go back to the original application by hiding the current one rather than simply switching.
Switch and Hide. Command-Option/Alt-Click on the Dock to switch applications. This method brings the selected application to the front whilst hiding all other applications. It also hides docked windows (those on the right-hand side of the Dock) of hidden applications.
LightSwitch is a command-tab style application switcher that can do a lot more than switching applications. It supports Switch and Hide from the keyboard (Command-Tab then A). It can also be set so that Switch and Hide is the default mode of operation.
http://www.proteron.com/liteswitchx/
From the LS manual:
"The following special keys are available when an application is selected in LiteSwitch X:
Tab . . . . . . . . . . . Select the Next Application
Shift . . . . . . . . . . . Select the Previous Application
W, S, or H . . . . . . . . . . . Show or Hide the Selected Application
A or O . . . . . Show only the Selected Application (hide all others)
B . . . Switch with the Bring One/All Forward option toggled
Q . . . . . . . . . . . Mark the Selected Application to Quit
X . . . . . . . . . . . Immediately Quit the Selected Application
R . . . . . . . . . . . Relaunch the Selected Application
F (twice) . . Immediately Force Quit the Selected Application
F then R . . . Force Quit, then Relaunch the Selected Application
K . . . Change the Keyboard Focus to the Selected Application
I . . . Get Info about the Selected Application in the Finder
M . . . . Open the Contextual Menu for the Selected Application
Esc . . . . . . . . . . . Exit and do nothing
` (tilde) . . . Select the Previous Application or Exit (configurable)"
Expose. Check out these Expose tips:
Open a document onto a clean desktop -
http://www.osxfaq.com/DailyTips/08-2004/08-05.ws
Grab a file from a crowded desktop and drop onto an application -
http://www.osxfaq.com/DailyTips/08-2004/08-06.ws
Enjoy !! :-)
Panther 10.3.8
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