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To maximize or not to maximize

I recently purchased a new computer for use at home and opted for an Apple Mac over a PC, simply because I felt I wanted to explore my creative side and Windows reminds me too much of work. After unpacking it and placing this work of art on my desk, I turned it on and started getting to grips with MacOS.

Now, being a man, I am only able to focus on one thing at a time and consequently I generally make extensive use of the maximize button in Windows, so that I am not distracted by the clutter of all the other windows. So you can imagine I was somewhat horrified when I realized that Apple don't actually provide a maximize button. They provide what is called a "zoom" button, which at best maximizes only in the vertical direction.

I heard it said that Apple claim there is no need for a Windows style maximize button because it would make it difficult to drag and drop between different windows. Now I can readily understand that some Mac users are happy with their "zoom" button, but quite frankly, it surprises me that Apple, who build their business on providing a great user experience, haven't given their users the fundamental choice of being able to completely maximize a window. Is it just me or do other Mac users have a strong opinion here?

Did you know: assigning tasks in OfficeTalk

If you are lucky enough to have someone to delegate to, then OfficeTalk provides a great way to manage tasks that you assign to other people. Tasks may be entered into either your personal task list or added to an OfficeTalk project, which is a Gantt view of related tasks. In both cases you can assign tasks to other OfficeTalk users or to anyone with an email address.

When you assign a task to someone, they receive an email containing a description of the task and any instructions that you have added to accompany the task assignment. If you assigned the task to an OfficeTalk user, the task will automatically be added into their task list as soon as they have opened the email.

Now here's the cool thing: OfficeTalk will automatically track any changes made by the assignee to the completion status of the task and will display the status on the original task in your task list, or in the OfficeTalk project. It even works for non-OfficeTalk users. They simply reply to the task assignment email, specifying whether they have fully or partially completed the task. This means that you can assign a list of tasks to various people and then just sit back and watch the tasks as they get worked on and ultimately become marked as completed or become overdue.