Easily Maximize a Browser window on OS X
Summary:
Drag and drop following bookmarklet into your Bookmark Bar and use it to maximize your web browser window!
Maximize Window
Background
Yes I admit it. One of the short comings of Mac OS X is the fact that we don’t have a standardized “Maximize Window” button. The Zoom button (i.e. the standard green button) behaves differently.
Sometimes I wish Mac OS X implemented a standardized maximize window feature…. Take for instance a web browser.
My web browser of choice is Safari. It is a snappy and an elegant browser that makes every website look professional. Hoverer here again, the Zoom button does not maximize the window.
Sometimes a webpage is best enjoyed in full screen mode. There are Safari plug-ins that will allow you to add the full screen feature. But I go back and forth between a few machines. The last thing I want to do is keep a Safari plug-in up-to-date on every machine.
But web browser is a beautiful creature. Many aspects of the application can be manipulated via JavaScript calls. Combine that with the fact that modern browsers can embed JavaScripts inside bookmarks (some call those “bookmarklet” or “javascriptlet”), and you’ll end up with utility bookmarks in bookmark bars such as “Share on Facebook” or “TinyURL!”.
The bookmarklet I inserted at the top of this blog entry allows you to maximize the browser window. You can drag and drop the link into your bookmark bar and use it to maximize the browser window any time.
Please note I’ve only tested the feature in Safari 4.0.1 and Firefox 3.0.x. This mechanism may or may not work on other OS X browsers as well as browsers on other platforms.