Exposé
Screenshot of the Exposé feature in Mac OS X 10. 5 illustrating the "all windows" function.

Exposé is a feature of the Mac OS X operating system. Mac OS X (mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn is a line of computer Operating systems developed marketed and sold by Apple Inc, the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination First previewed on 23 June 2003 at the Worldwide Developers Conference as a feature of the then forthcoming Mac OS X v10.3,^[1] Exposé allows a user to quickly locate an open window, or to hide all windows and show the desktop without the need to click through many windows to find a specific target. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Mac OS X version 103 “Panther” was the fourth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server Operating system.

Exposé makes extensive use of undocumented features of the Core Graphics framework. Quartz specifically refers to a pair of Mac OS X technologies each part of the Core Graphics framework Quartz 2D and Quartz Compositor.

Usage

Screenshot of the Exposé feature in Mac OS X 10. 5 illustrating the "application windows" feature.

Exposé includes three separate features for organizing windows:

• The "All windows" feature shows all open and unhidden windows, shrinking their appearance so they all fit on a single screen. By default, this can be activated using the F9 key. A function key is a key on a Computer or terminal keyboard which can be programmed so as to cause an operating system command interpreter or application
• The "Application windows" feature shows all open and unhidden windows for the currently active application. Again, the windows shrink to appear on the screen together, but generally they shrink less because there are fewer windows in a single application compared to the system as a whole. During this mode, the user can conveniently cycle through windows of different applications by pressing the tab key. In the default preferences, this can be activated using the F10 key.
• The "Desktop" feature moves all windows off the screen, with just the edges of the windows visible at the side of the screen, giving the user clear access to the Desktop. In the default preferences, this can be activated using the F11 key.

In the first two cases, after Exposé is activated, the user can select any window by clicking on it or selecting it with arrow keys and pressing Enter. Point-and-click is the action of a Computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen ( point) and Exposé then deactivates, leaving the selected window in the foreground. Using Apple's Mighty Mouse, it is possible to select a window using the Scroll Ball, by scrolling in the direction of that window. The Apple Mighty Mouse is a multi-button USB or Bluetooth mouse manufactured and sold by Apple Inc

The key used for activating Exposé can be customized to be any of the function keys, the shift, control, option or command key, the fn key on Mac laptops, or even a mouse button on multiple-button mice (including Apple's Mighty Mouse). Fn key can also refer to the Function keys on a Computer keyboard. In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses)

Exposé can also be activated by moving the mouse to a corner of the desktop using a feature called Active Screen Corners (which is off by default).

Screenshot of the Exposé feature in Mac OS X 10. 5 illustrating the feature in Spaces

Exposé also works with Spaces, a new feature in Mac OS X Leopard, so that a user can see the windows in each desktop scaled down while looking at a scaled down version of each space. Spaces is a Virtual desktop feature developed by Apple Inc and is an integral part of Mac OS X v10 Spaces is a Virtual desktop feature developed by Apple Inc and is an integral part of Mac OS X v10

Undocumented features

The "blob" is a hidden and undocumented interface to Exposé that was discovered by a member of the MacNN forums. The Macintosh News Network ( MacNN) is a source for Macintosh, Apple, ITunes and IPod related news ^[2] When clicked, it enables the "Application Windows" mode. When Option+clicked, it enables the "All Windows" mode.

Another undocumented feature of Exposé is for the show desktop function. It places all the open windows in a small box on the screen that can be moved to anywhere on the screen. Unfortunately this function has some bugs, after exiting the show desktop mode, the foremost window will not have a shadow and the user will not be able to move the window. However, this easily fixed by using the show all function (which is set to default F9).

Using the Shift key, Exposé can be activated in slow motion, just as Front Row, Dashboard and the minimise effect can. The shift key is a Modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper" characters Slow motion is a technique in film-making whereby Time appears to be slowed down Dashboard is an application for Apple 's Mac OS X operating systems used for hosting mini-applications known as widgets. Aqua is the Graphical user interface and primary visual theme of Apple Inc This is the same effect that was demonstrated by Steve Jobs during the unveiling of Exposé during the 2003 Worldwide Developers Conference. Steven Paul Jobs (born February 24 1955 is the Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc and former CEO of Pixar Animation ^[3]

Similar applications

Similar effects are used on other operating systems.

Compiz is a compositing window manager for systems using the X Window System. Compiz is one of the first Compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast Compositing desktop This provides some similar functionality to Expose, notably the scale plugin.

Microsoft Windows Vista provides a feature called Windows Flip 3D, which has a vaguely similar purpose. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Windows Vista (formerly codenamed Longhorn) has many new features compared with previous Microsoft Windows versions covering most aspects of the operating Flip 3D allows a user to flip through all open windows in a manner similar to how the application switcher works (alt+tab). A downside to this method is that the frontmost window covers a significant portion of the other windows, unlike Exposé. However, Vista's Desktop Window Manager exposes a public API that allows any application to access the same thumbnail representations that Flip3D uses, and so there are a number of third party add-ons that are able to provide Exposé-like in Vista; most prominently Switcher [1]. Desktop Window Manager ( DWM, previously Desktop Compositing Engine or DCE) is a Compositing window manager, introduced with Windows Vista

Microsoft's Intellipoint Software for Microsoft Mice has had a somewhat similar feature to Expose since 2002; but one that works with static images of windows, rather than live representations as Expose and Flip3D do.

The Korean website www. docs. kr [2] produces freeware applications that perform Exposé-like tasks with similar graphics in Microsoft Windows XP. Windows XP is a family of 32-bit and 64-bit Operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and

See also

• Dashboard (software)
• Taskbar
• Zooming User Interface
• Exposé clone

References