Poll: Do you maximise your browser window?
It seems like every time somebody mentions browser size, screen resolution or fixed/fluid/elastic width, there will be a side discussion going on about window/application maximising. It happened here a few months ago when I posted Resolution vs. browser size vs. fixed or adaptive width.
I thought it would be interesting to know the habits of people visiting this site, so if you have a minute or two please post a comment with answers to the folllowing questions:
- Do you normally maximise your browser window, i.e. make it cover the entire screen? (Your answer should reflect what you do during normal use, not while holding presentations or similar.)
- What is the resolution (in pixels) of your primary screen?
- Which operating system do you use?
My own answers are as follows:
- No.
- 1600 by 1200 pixels.
- Mac OS X
After a couple of weeks I’ll disable comments on this post, evaluate the results, and post a follow-up.
Update (2007-03-31): Well, with the absolutely incredible response this got, I am now disabling comments after less than two days instead of after a couple of weeks.
It will take me long enough to go through over 900 comments, of which many include multiple setups.
Thanks very much for participating, and I’ll be back with the results once I’ve found the time to do this…
Update (2007-04-02): Comments are open again after some feedback from visitors who would like to see this post break the 1000 comment limit. So let’s do that :-).
Update (2007-04-05): Ok, this time comments are really closed. 1071 comments (!) should be enough to do something with. Look for a follow-up in a week or two.
Update (2007-04-15): I have published the results of the poll in Poll results: 50.4% of respondents maximise windows.
- Previous post: Truwex Online: An accessibility and quality validator
- Next post: WCAG 2.0 released today
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Comments
Web sites that forces me to side scroll (I rarely consider resizing my window an option) annoy me royally.
Maximized for personal browsing and not for working. If I’m working, I’m constantly changing size and shape to check pages, as well as switching to other browsers or applications.
Dual monitors One vertical - 1024 x 1280 and one horizontal - 1280 x 1024
Windows XP unfortunately
I had to increase my screen resolution from 1152 when people started going to fixed width designs at 1024, just so I could continue to keep my Opera panels open while browsing. I’m not bothered by that now, but I would be if my monitor was any smaller.
Work
Home
Honestly, I am surprised at the number of people that don’t. I can’t stand looking at a website with Desktop icons/backgrounds around the browser window.
At work:
At home:
I don’t find Windows very conducive to non-full screen usage.
I’m curious to see where you’re going with this, Roger. I know some people consider it to be an accessibility issue when a web site does not fit horizontially in the bowser window, but I think that’s incorrect. It may be a convienence issue, but even if I make my page 2000 pixels wide, the content is still going to be accessible on an 800px wide screen.
Good poll, though. It’s always good for web designers and developers to know more about the demographics of web users, to be sure. :)
[ If I had a bigger screen, I would not use a maximized window. ]
I have different settings for my home and school environments.
At home:
At school:
No… 1024 but I do lengthen it full height. Full screen on a Cinema is just annoying ;-)
My typical browser window is about 1100 x 800 for most browsing.
Home:
Work:
I’ll give 2 answers because I’m a recent “switcher”, so here’s what I did on my Windows XP machine:
On my MacBook Pro
Desktop: 1. Yes, (on one screen) 2. 1280 x 1024 (x2) 3. Win Vista
Laptop: 1. No 2. 1920 x 1200 3. Win Vista
Work:
Home:
At Home:
At Work:
If on main monitor: 1. No. 2. 1600x1200
If on second monitor: 1. Yes. (Usually) 2. 1280x1024 3. Windows XP
Desktop:
Laptop:
Win XP Pro
Most of the time 1. No 2. 1152 x 870 3. Mac OS X
Though sometimes 1. Yes, always 2. 1280 x 1024 3. Win XP
Home:
Work:
At work…
At home…
As Jeff Croft reported: “It’s always good for web designers and developers to know more about the demographics of web users, to be sure.”
I would just add: savvy, advanced web users, that care about accessibility and standards.
I feel like such an average user amongst the designing elite here! Never have I seen so few users of 1024 x 768!
Desktop:
1. Always.
2. 1280x1024, 1280x1024 (dual monitors)
3. Windows XP, Vista
Laptop:
1. Always.
2. 1024x768
3. Fedora Core
Home:
Work:
My two cents: Maximizing is a windows thing to do. I always maximize windows at work, I never do it on a Mac. Strange.
Home:
Work (laptop):
Desktop:
Laptop:
Desktop
Laptop
Laptop
Desktop
My computer time is split almost evenly between two machines.
On my Mac:
On the Windows machine:
at home:
at work:
Work:
Home:
Woah! 182 comments! In 19 minutes! Sweet.
At work:
At home:
*I keep the window near 1300x1000.
HOME:
WORK:
Thomas Baekdal has made a research on the topic that may be interesting for you:
http://baekdal.com/reports/actual-browser-sizes/
(sorry, couldn’t make the link syntax work, so copy and paste it is…)
I do maximize at school, since the ancient PC’s are stuck at 800x600.
I don’t want to disrupt the survey with too much ancillary discussion, but I was inspired to maximize my browser window for the first time ever on a 1280x1024 screen.
This made me realize how much I need borders on the edge of the content I’m reading in order to keep focus. For example, when reading the comments on this website my eyes would get lost and confused in the whitespace when trying to find the next line of text.
I can understand the perspective of people who are distracted by desktop clutter, although it has never bothered me personally. I am curious if those people have the same problem I do with getting lost in large amounts of borderless empty space.
In the future I will definitely make a concerted effort to always put borders on the edges of my designs.
*If a side goes all the way to the edges then I often need to make the window smaller. I find 750px to be the perfect line length to me and I prefer a lot of whitespace outside of it.
Before I had a bigger screen (1280 x 1024) at that time I didn’t surf full screen.
@Work:
@home:
It seems to me that most of the people with Macs browse without browser maximized as opposed to PC crowd browsing with maximized window (both Linux and Win).
Uhh - and at work:
@home:
@work
@ Work
@ Home
and
Me @ Home
Family @ Home
Me @ Work
Co-worker @ Work
OSX doesn’t really maximize, but I usually run my browser pretty close…
Tend to run my browser usually on the smaller monitor
1: no. 2: 1280x1024 3: Win XP.
@Work:
@Home:
Caveat: Using linux allows for virtual desktops which I use pretty heavily. My browser sits alone on one, Zend Studio on another, Email on another and so on. Leaving the browser maximized doesn’t interfere with other applications, and gives me more room to leave the Web Developer Toolbar always on, Firebug often on and so on, all of which chew up some screen real estate.
For my laptop
For my desktop
At home:
At work:
I set the default font-size in Firefox to 18px. To read big amount of text I increase it even more with Ctrl + (2-3 taps). I find very annoying only sites that have a 100% width text (or about >60em), then I have to reduce the window size, but this happens very rarely.
My standard window size for browsing is 800 x 840.
I’ve recently started to make my web (application) designs sensitive to window/font sizes with the help of some JavaScript: http://schuerig.de/michael/blog/index.php/2007/02/22/size-dependent-layout/
WORK
HOME
(When I used Windows on dual monitors sporting 1024 x 768 resolutions on each, I used to ALWAYS maximize)
Work:
Home:
Desktop:
Laptop:
From my company website: viewport dimensions
Until yesterday:
but now I’ve got a 22” monitor and I’m still trying to work out how I like things set.
Work:
Laptop:
Home:
For me it’s a function of screen real estate. Normally maximize but maximized on 1600 x 1200 just looks plain silly.
At work:
At home:
I would expect the answer to be “No” for question 1 if my monitor were bigger. I doubt I’d want my browser window much bigger than this.
Seems I confused markdown with textile. let’s try this again:
Work:
Home:
Work/Home
For this site in particular… I usually click through from the RSS feed in FeedDemon and view the site in a frame at a res of ~900x900 (though on occasion I will then open in a browser as well, this is one site I like the look of so much I prefer to read the post in context of the entire site).
Desktop:
Laptop:
My eyesight isn’t so great, so for this site, I open the browser full-screen and also need to increase the font size a step or two.
PC:
iBook:
… and i get really pissed when my screen is maximized by javascript (if it is not gucci.com ;-))
Actually i’m trying get rid of being used to have maximised windows.
I actually like a bigger resolution, it’s easier in photoshop, and for browsing (and looks better in general)…but I think it’s vitally important to see the web like the majority of typical users do.
However, whenever I am on a lower resolution screen I end up maximizing the window.
Work:
Home:
It’s strange how, when I am using Windows, I can’t stand not having my browser maximized, and when I use Mac, I can’t stand having it Maximized.
I recently switched from Windows, which I think is why I’m a maximizer.
Seems like you’ve unmasked all the lurkers on your site!
Work:
Home:
Work:
Home:
Work:
Home:
I did (nearly) exactly the same poll a couple of month ago:
http://jeenaparadies.net/weblog/2006/oct/wer-surft-in-fullscreen
Work:
Home:
At work:
At home:
Work:
Home:
For me it has to do with the actual physical size of the monitor.
Until last monday
Since then (New laptop)
Home:
Work:
or
Work:
Home:
YIKES!
I posted this and went to bed, expecting maybe 40 or 50 comments, tops. So I was “slightly” surprised to find 430 comments when I got up this morning.
Thanks everyone for answering my questions. Looks like I will have to hire someone to help me go through everything ;-D.
On my main PC (soon to be replaced by an iMac)
on my macbook
@Work:
@Work:
@Home:
I probably wouldn’t be maximizing the browser Window at anything bigger than 1600x1200 though. Especially websites using a fluid layout would suffer greatly in readability, as most parapraphs would fit on a single line.
Work
Home
Note: I have the Tab Sidebar active most of the time, so my viewport is about 125px less wide. I use dual displays so I still can see at least two windows at a time.
In my experience, MAC users work and use their computer differently. And why shouldnt they, there are differences in MAC and PCs. My wife works on a MAC and never maximize any windows. I on the other hand, think that the slightest hint of the desktop makes everything feel cluttered.
@Work
@Home
PC:
Mac:
Work
Home
Work:
Home (laptop):
I haven’t figured out the border where I stop maximising yet. Last night while installing my sister’s machine, I had the following results:
Work
Home
Work:
Home:
1.Yes 2.1280 x 1024 3.Windows XP
*On what computer I’m using and what work I’m doing.
Laptop
Desktop
At work:
At home:
Work:
Home main machine:
Home media machine (attached to TV, minimum text size set to 24px)
At work:
At home:
At Work >
At Home (desktop) >
At Home (laptop) >
I use Windows and Mac in equal measure (home/work dichotomy), so I’ll answer for both.
Maximise - Windows: yes; Mac: no. Rez - Windows: 1920 x 1200; Mac: 1600 x 1050*. OS - Windows: XP SP2; Mac: 10.4.9.
*At work I use my MacBook Pro’s own screen with an external 20” Dell monitor for a dual-screen setup. If I’m viewing the browser window on the MacBook’s screen, I maximise it; on the Dell screen I don’t.
My main screen area is restricted down to 1024 wide by Google sidebar, intentionally.
Mac OS X
although full height most of the time. Width is bookmarklet-ed at 900px, unless a site makes me go to 1024. Use bookmarklet of 1024x768 for site development.
@home
yes
1400x1050
Ubuntu Edgy
@work
yes
1600x1280
Windows XP
Work:
Home:
I work at different machines (customer machines sometimes), and they have lower resolutions most of the time, so if i’m working there, i maximize the browser.
At home:
At work (IBM notebook):
At work:
At home:
but also…
I’m kind of mid switch…
At home (XP) and work (OSX)
An interesting survey, although probably not too indicative of the general populous, just web designers/developers.
At work:
At home:
You might also want to track any responses you get from the corresponding Reddit thread
At home:
At work
At Work
At Home
home:
work:
At Work
At Home
I’m an all fashioned boy ;)
Desktop:
Laptop:
Home:
Work:
Straw poll amongst colleagues: same as me. Non-webby friends and family always maximise browser windows.
i’m an opera user; on my home and my work desktop i don’t even have the windows within opera maximized but stacked/cascaded with an approximate viewport of 800x530.
Work:
Home:
Here you go,
At home:
At work:
(Boy - 621 comments. Reddit’ll do that…)
At work:
At home:
Prefer liquid design though
At work:
At home:
Home: 1024x768 Maximized: always
Work: 1600x1200 (20 inch) Maximized: most of the time, but i’ll restore if the page’s text is too wide.
Work
Home
^^ Windows.
Notebook / PC
Doing a quick straw poll (looking over shoulders!) of others in my office (about 30, PC to Mac split about 2 to 1), it seems almost all PC users do maximise, while not one Mac user does.
In other words I never maximise my browser windows. Only for testing 1024 screens in Parallels.
At Work:
At Home
I may be the last person in the world using 800 x 600 but anything else gives me a headache. I’m 57 years old if that helps.
Desktop
Laptop (older model)
@work
@home
Work Desktop
Laptop
Browsers should return only browser size, and not be capable of returning screen size at all. This would not cause problems for anyone.
Hi! I’m from URUGUAY.
When I use my PC at work:
When I use my Mac at home:
I’ve been using the Mint stats program, which shows “Real Estate” for visits - actual size of browser window, not just display res.
Work
Home
@work
@home
I like to have my screen “divided” in two; I will use one side with Firefox, displaying the main text of the web page that I am reading — in other words, I totally ignore sidebars by hiding them.
The other side is usually used for whatever it is I am working on/watching/chat…
And for those who mentioned that this makes you see the messy desktop, there is a simple fix, just have all icons not show, unless you click the desktop :-)
At home:
At work:
btw. wow - what a huge response.. seems everyone got something to say.. :-)
Coincidentally, I offered to change the screen res of a colleague yesterday from 800×600 (on a 17”), but she refused as “the fonts were too small”.
Not everyone likes large displays I s’pose.
Desktop:
Notebook:
For browsing/reading/surfing I don’t generally maximize. However if I’m using an application —-perhaps ordering something on Amazon.com I will always maximize.
At home:
At work:
At Home
At work
Boy, do I feel lame (in regards to Rez). This crowd is hardcore!!
At Home
At Work
Office:
Home:
On my mac, not so much… It might have something to do with how apple defaults though. It seems to be a somewhat recurring pattern, most of the apple posts don’t maximize, most of the windows posts do…
At a glance it seems that people using XP prefer maximising their windows, but not people using OSX
This is something we have recently been discussing in our office. We are thinking of adding some javascript to record peoples browser dimensions on a couple of our websites. We get a pretty broad range of users so it should be interesting to see what we find out.
It seems to me so far that Windows users are more likely to have their browser windows maximised than OSX users—I wonder why this is?
-he who stacks pork
Home
Work
Like others said, I find my desktop and other applications too distracting to have showing from behind.
I would find it interesting to what size those of you, who do not maximise their browser window, resize it?
BTW: I maximise my browser window, because I don’t like it if other windows steal my attention. So it helps me beeing concentrated to the website. For that reason I normally use every window maximised, but I also use two monitors (dual view).
i work on a lot of text, so i have a text editor on one side of my screen, and browser on the other.
No clear answer - are you really planning on collating all this information to reveal potential patterns with resolution?
I keep all non-transient windows maximized. I never see my desktop except when restarting. Regardless, I often do have different sidebars of varying sizes open at times and large fluid/elastic layouts handle that nicely.
At work:
At home:
My browser window is almost always set to 1200x900.
WORK
HOME
My time is evenly split between home (where my laptop powers a 20” LCD) and the road, hence the two scenarios…
Home:
Road:
Work
Home
Work:
Home
Work
Home
Home1:
Home2:
Work:
(FWIW: my firefox is currently 1485x883)
Work:
Home:
(I seldom resize at home so I can see my desktop and other apps, and because often the only thing being hidden is advertising)
I have two answers:
and…
Work:
Home:
I would like to know what could be an advantage (that is, some tips&tricks) about not using your browser window maximized.
Thanks.
(and, wow, check out the number of responses. you may need some sort of script to parse this.)
At Work:
At Home:
Roger
This is great response. You now have what approximates to a statistically valid sample size. Keep going until you get up to the magic 1024 responses. It doesn’t say much about web surfers at large, but certainly a lot about the tech community you address, i.e. customers of your blog.
I assume you are going to collate and publish the figures later.
I never do casual browsing. :-)
and
I may be the last person in the world using 800 x 600 but anything else gives me a headache. I’m 57 years old if that helps.
me too iam 20
back then, as I was a persistent Windows User (switched ~3 months ago) and always when developing on Windows via Parallels:
At work:
At home:
At home:
At work:
At home:
At work:
cu, w0lf.
Home:
And I always have my bookmarks open on the left at home.
Work:
At home:
At work:
Home:
Work:
When line length gets long enough to get confusing when reading lengthy textual pieces, then I’ll reduce the window width. Surprisingly quite often this happens.
Home
Work
Laptop:
Work Station:
Usage note - I maximise if I am working on a screen at or below 1024 x 768 resolution.
I generally have 2 different environments, so…
and
It’s going to be interesting to see how the results of this poll jive with the data collected elsewhere.
At work, where I use a resolution of 1920x1200, I usually don’t maximize my browser windows though.
PC @ work (two 19” LCD displays)
Mac @ work (one 20” LCD display)
PC @ home (one 20” LCD display)
P.S. I’m Opera user, so I use full page zoom a lot.
and
Depending on which computer i use.
Oh, so THAT’S why the page loaded so slowly :P
We often return to this point at CSSCreator when discussing designing for certain window sizes/resolutions. This topic may spark a lively debate over there.
For the record, mine are:
And I’m a heavy gamer, that may go some way to explaining why I have every window of mine full-screened and alt+tab between them.
Depending on my location (on the road = MBP = 1440 * 900, my own office = Samsung 205BW = 1680 * 1050, in my other office = some old 17” CRT = 1280*1024) I have different resolutions, bot never maximize my windows.
OR My iMac
Even at lower resolutions I never browse full screen.
At the moment, my viewport is about 985 x 680.
Home configuration:
Work configuration:
Work:
Home:
Laptop:
Desktop:
Desktop - Vista
Desktop - Ubuntu
Laptop
Above, laptop, #3 is supposed to be ‘WinXP and Ubuntu 6.10’
(broken)
Computer 1 (home, desktop):
—
Computer 2 (office, desktop):
—
Computer 3 (office, laptop):
—
//Sidenote: Yeaaaah, let’s break that 1000-comment barrier!! :-) 6+ and counting :-D
Yes, I do. Always is maximized. 1024x768 pixels .
;-)
Until recently I never maximised my window, partly because Safari used to be my default browser and it doesn’t do maximising very well. I’ve changed since making Firefox 2 my default browser and the realisation that most Windows users seem to maximise almost all the time, so I thought I ought to see things more like they do - they are the majority user base after all!
Mac OS X
No
Here, at work:
At home:
Work:
Home:
..
I would also like to mention that I use a bit of code to test different resolutions for websites
I created a shortcut/favorite with this info in it:
[DEFAULT] BASEURL=javascript:window.resizeTo(770,765) [InternetShortcut] URL=javascript:window.resizeTo(770,765)
I have that done several times. to text several screensizes without needing to resize my screen.
Note: Max all apps. Except when checking RSS/Email, then Thunderbird (open 1/3) and Firefox (open 2/3) side by side.
PC:
Mac:
Home:-
Work:-
(Maximising on a widescreen tends to distort sites, and creates huuuuuuuuuge margins. To fill in the side space, some widget goodness… =D )
Cheers!
(as a side note: the resolution on my 17” MBP is so high, that I find myself scaling up text much more often than I used to on previous screens)
Home
Work
Work:
Home:
Work:
Home:
Work:
Home:
Work:
Home:
Work:
Home:
Home:
Work:
@home
@primary work station
@secondary work station
I also agree with those, who find it very annoying when websites maximize or zoom my web browser for me. I hate that.
Interesting survey. Here are my specs.
It will be interesting to see the results.
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