How many Applications can I minimize in Mac OS X Leopard?

If I minimize the application that I'm currently using, it goes to the end of the dock.

How many applications can I minimize like this?

Sagar R. Kothari

Posted 2009-08-08T00:26:45.113

Reputation: 4 267

1just curious... why do you want to know? – fretje – 2009-08-08T00:33:22.893

just curious as @fretje said. – Sagar R. Kothari – 2009-08-08T01:09:11.717

Answers

The dock icons shrink as you minimize more applications. The dock height remains the same, but those icons inside will shrink to fit all the minimized windows.

I don't believe there's a limit to the number of windows you can have. I just minimized 35 safari windows, and had no problems.

For the record - I opened 35 windows just for this issue. I don't normally have so many windows open :)

EvilChookie

Posted 2009-08-08T00:26:45.113

Reputation: 4 519

up to what level it can shrink? i think there will be some limit... – Sagar R. Kothari – 2009-08-08T00:41:52.280

3As I said, I do not know of what the limit is. I tested up to 35, because I don't have all the time in the world to open an infinite number of safari windows. I would be willing to bet though that the number of minimized windows would be in some fashion tied to your screen resolution - if you have a smaller resolution, then you'll probably hit that limit (if there is one) sooner than someone running a larger display. – EvilChookie – 2009-08-08T00:46:57.480

I opened up hundreds of Firefox windows and minimized them all. It didn't have any trouble, but at some point the end items on the dock started overflowing the screen. Oh, and the dock does shrink in height. Right now mine is about 10-15 pixels high. – jasonh – 2009-08-08T05:30:12.310

tell application "TextEdit"
    launch
    repeat with x from 1 to 200
        make new document
    end repeat
    set every window's miniaturized to true
end tell

jtbandes

Posted 2009-08-08T00:26:45.113

Reputation: 8 350

The real answer is that there is a practical limit on the dock icons sizes. The OS is limited by memory, and virtual memory, but allows an unlimited number of windows... The Dock "interface" is practically limited due to the vertical size of the icons. The dock that has hundreds of windows will be very small vertically, and horizontally... But that's where the Dock Magnification option really comes into play...

The real limitation is going to be the speed your computer, the amount of memory, and disk space....

Benjamin Schollnick

Posted 2009-08-08T00:26:45.113

Reputation: 4 313

+1 for not being sarcastic. Who’d want more than a handful of minimized windows anyway – Martin Marconcini – 2009-11-20T02:22:19.483

I'm was bored, so I opened over 500 Finder windows and minimized them, it worked fine on my MacBook Pro ;)

Sindre Sorhus

Posted 2009-08-08T00:26:45.113

Reputation: 363

Who told you to do so? – Sagar R. Kothari – 2009-10-03T21:37:08.180

my dog told me so. – Sindre Sorhus – 2009-10-08T17:51:10.920