Q:
What are those three little buttons on the upper right-hand corner of an open window for?

A:
Those are the Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons.

The “X” closes the window.

The “Box” maximizes the program, making it full screen. If it’s already maximized, it looks like a box on top of another box. If you click it in that state, it will make your window smaller.

Finally, the little “_” is the minimize button. It reduces the current window to a Taskbar button. Clicking the button on the Taskbar restores the window to its former state.

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately from people who are trying to make their windows smaller. I guess big windows are out this year or something.

Anyhow, in order to re-size a window, you need to be sure it’s in a “normal” state, and not Maximized. If your Maximize button is a single box (as shown above), then you can re-size. If it’s a double box, click it and it will turn to a single box.

Then to resize your window, just hover your mouse cursor over an edge or corner of the window you want to re-size. It should turn into a double-arrow. Just left-click, hold and drag till the window is the size you want.

Finally, here’s a hint for all you first time re-sizers: If you resize using a corner (preferably not the corner with the min, max, and close buttons) you can resize both height and width at the same time.

~ Steve