I grew up in the computer world when hi-res meant 256 by 192 pixels. I think this is the main reason for my cult of screen space. I try always to use small fonts and arrange windows to avoid any waste.Windows (without MS prefix) are powerful way to present your application, but they come with a cost of wasted pixels around the border (and for the caption bar). Now Windows 7 (this this with the MS prefix) adds some more decorations with the only purpose of sacrificing some more pixels to the altar of uselessness.
Not happy with this move, the engineers from Redmond decided to hide deep in the configuration menus the option to get those space back.
If you want save those pixel, then you have to follow this procedure –
- click on an empty area of the desktop,
- select Customize (“Personalizza” in italian),
- click on Window colors (“Colore finestre”),
- then click on Advanced Settings (“Impostazioni avanzate per l’aspetto…”). At this point, if you are an old Windows aficionado, you are looking at a familiar sight.
- Click on the Element (“Elemento”) drop down list and seek for Border Filling (“Riempimento bordo”);
- on the Size (“Dimensioni”) spin field set the value 0 (or the value that best suites your taste).
Et voila. Your pixels are back, ready for some useful task.
(English terms in the UI I listed above are inferred from the Italian version of Windows 7).