Right Zoom for Mac - fix Maximize window button annoyance. Developer's home page

Right Zoom is a free Mac utility that changes the behavior of the green Zoom button to always expand windows to full screen instead of resizing to best fit.

Attention: to install this app on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, please disable GateKeeper before the installation, or right-click the downloaded file and choose Open from popup menu.

Click here to read the PDF guide

Click here to download Right Zoom application

The green button at the top of every window is actually called the “Zoom Button”. In some applications it actually does maximize the window. Then, in some like iTunes, it changes the interface from the full iTunes layout to the mini-player. In other apps, it just resizes the window to what Apple thinks is the best ‘fit’. To say this is a bit confusing to recent switchers is putting it mildly. So – lets fix that button once and for all.

Right Zoom provides a quick and easy solution for the zoom button's inconsistent behavior. It enables you to make the zoom button maximize to full screen when you click the green orb.

By default, Right Zoom makes a number of apps blow full screen when hitting the green orb. You can add or remove specific apps if you wish on this white list.

There is also a list of exceptions where Right Zoom will not change the zoom button's behavior - working like a blacklist for your apps so Right Zoom doesn't change their behavior. By default, Right Zoom does not apply to iTunes, for example. iTunes' zoom button is a toggle between the normal window and the mini player window. If you don’t want Right Zoom to change this default behavior in Mac OS X, the exceptions list is the solution. Also, you can add or remove entries in the exceptions list if you wish.

Right Zoom is a background process utility and runs using very minimal resources. It does not slow your system down at all when you have it running.

Application requirements: Mac OS X 10.5 or later, Intel or PPC Mac.

The version for Mac OS X 10.4 is available here

Special thanks to BrightHub.com and SwitchingToMac.com for writing the first detailed articles about this application.