To combat this problem I've put by tabs on the left:

http://i.imgur.com/S05lg.png

Since I'm using a 16:10 monitor it works out nicely. Opera also has a problem of not clicking the tab if you put your mouse all the way at the top of the screen when the tabs are at the top of your browser. However if your tabs are on the side you can throw your mouse to one side and be guaranteed to click a tab.

To me, your content area is just way too big. Though, it seems to be a common habit of Windows users to maximise everything, for some reason. I fit my Dock (left), browser, Twitter client and terminal on the same size screen as that, very happily!

I would guess it's because window management on Windows (at least until 7) was just Too Hard. 7 improves things a lot, but it's still not as good as it could be.

If you bring up a window, and it's too small, you could either: A. Drag it to where you want it, and then fiddle around resizing it so that it's big enough and doesn't overlap anything else important, or B. Maximize it in one click, do what you need, minimize it again.

Additionally, Windows windows have lots of chrome when unmaximized, and this tends to discourage heaps-of-small-windows layouts.

>...either: A. Drag it to where you want it, and then fiddle around resizing it so that it's big enough and doesn't overlap anything else important...

Try out Winsplit Revolution. The help page gives a nice overview of the functionality: http://www.winsplit-revolution.com/help

It's free and works great for positioning windows. You can position windows using hotkeys and create custom positions/window sizes. WIN+ALT+Numpad 7 will place and resize a window in the top left of the screen, WIN+ALT+Numpad 6 will place a window on the right side of the screen and take exactly half the width, etc. It's become second nature to me and I rarely have to worry about manually placing a window.

Also Divvy for OS X which does the same kind of thing.

I only want the windows visible that are relevant to the task. That usually means one window - possible two. I want everything else invisible including bits of my desktop peeking through the edges. It's all just clutter.

How on earth you work with Twitter always visible onscreen I don't know. Do you get anything done!?

It's not, I do all work in a separate space.

Well what this picture doesn't show is my second monitor which I'm using to run chat and other misc. programs. Screen space is not much of an issue for me but I try to be efficient with it by putting my tabs on the left.

Aside question: Why is it so hard to get 4:3 or even 16:10 monitors new these days?

Because the bulk of LCD panels come in HD-TV scales, which is 16:9 (1920x1080 for 1080p, for example). Its cheaper for the manufacturing plants to only have to deal with one ratio.

I thought it came about because screens are measuered in diagonal distance, and the diagonal distance for 16:9 screens contains less pixels than for 4:3, so they are cheaper to make.

4:3 vs widescreen seems to come down to its what most people are used to, and so its what the majority (sadly, not us nerds wanting as much vertical as possible) buy.

I was referring to the very few 16:10 monitors available now, almost all of them are 16:9.

Another thing you can do is buy a smaller 16:9 one and rotate it 90 degrees. If you set up two side-by-side in this configuration, you've got a display which is almost square.

It's not hard, it just costs money. Dell has an excellent line of high quality monitors (e.g. the 24" IPS U2410).

...which costs almost as much ($600 vs $800) as the 27" 16:9 U2711. 1920x1200 @ 16:10, or 2560x1440 @ 16:9. I know I'd prefer 2560x1600, but I don't know if the even make them. Apple's 27" and 30" displays are 16:9, too.

the 30" display is 2560x1600 (16:10), also, it's now supposed to be superseded by the 27" display (2560x1440) which makes me hope my 30" doesn't break down any time soon as I want my 200 extra pixels.

I haven't seen any news that the u3011 is being discontinued, where did you hear that?

I have a 16:10 monitor, I had no idea it is hard to get one.

When I finally made the switch from a 4:3 panel to something widescreen, I had to find some that were 16:10.