# WindowShade

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/WindowShade
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/WindowShade.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindowShade
> Source revision: 1336870956
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Classic Mac OS control panel extension

**WindowShade** was a [control panel](/source/Control_panel_(Mac_OS)) extension for the [classic Mac OS](/source/Classic_Mac_OS) that allowed a user to double-click a [window](/source/Window_(computing))'s [title bar](/source/Title_bar) to "roll up" the window like a [windowshade](/source/Windowshade). When the window was "rolled up", only the title bar of the window was visible; the window's [content area](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Content_area&action=edit&redlink=1) disappeared, allowing easier manipulation of the windows on the screen.

## History

It debuted in [System 7.5](/source/System_7_(Macintosh)),[1] but disappeared in [Mac OS 8](/source/Mac_OS_8), when the feature was implemented as a part of the Appearance Manager. A [widget](/source/Widget_(computing)) was added to the title bar in addition to the [double-click](/source/Double-click) method of collapsing a window. The entire feature disappeared with the release of [Mac OS X](/source/Mac_OS_X); windows could be minimized to the [Dock](/source/Dock_(macOS)) on the new system or, starting with [Mac OS X 10.3](/source/Mac_OS_X_10.3), moved aside with [Exposé](/source/Expos%C3%A9_(Mac_OS_X)). However, several third-party utilities, such as WindowShade X for [Unsanity](/source/Unsanity)'s [Application Enhancer](/source/Application_Enhancer) software, have brought the ability back to Mac OS. It has since reappeared as a commercial haxie (an unofficial modification to system software) and offers other features, like translucent windows and minimize-in-place. WindowShade X from Unsanity stopped working in Mac OS 10.7, and other third-party developers have since released applications such as WindowMizer from RGB World that keep the WindowShade feature working on Mac OS X 10.6 and greater.

The WindowShade control panel itself stems from a third-party utility originally written for System 6.0.7 by Rob Johnston. Apple purchased the rights to this software from the developer for use in System 7.5.[2]

## Other operating systems

Some [window managers](/source/Window_manager) for [Unix-like](/source/Unix-like) [operating systems](/source/Operating_system) have a similar feature allowing windows to be set to "roll up" when the user [double-clicks](/source/Double-click) the title bar of a window.[3] Some window managers provide a titlebar button to access the functionality. While [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows) does not expose such a feature by default, in some versions if a window is minimized while no taskbar is available, the said window will become a "shade" at the bottom of the screen. An intentional shading implementation for Windows is provided by third-party software vendors.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Three things OS X could learn from the Classic Mac OS"](http://www.macworld.com/article/1138335/macat25_classicmacos.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["System 7.5 and Mac OS 7.6: The Beginning and End of an Era"](http://www.lowendmac.com/sable/06/0215.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["What Is the X Window System"](http://linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2005/08/25/whatisXwindow.html).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [WindowShade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindowShade) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WindowShade?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.