Here are some ways you can use to make resizing the window an easier, and enjoyable task.

1. Alt + Middle click

At anywhere in the window, press “ALT” key and the middle button of the mouse and the cursor instantly become an arrowhead. You can then move in the direction that you want to resize.

2. Press At + F8

The “Alt + F8″ hotkey is a quick keyboard shortcut to activate the resize mode. Once in the resize mode (with a translucent overlay), you can use the arrow key to resize the window horizontally or vertically. Once you are done, hit Enter to return to the window mode.

3. Configure own hotkey via Compiz

If you are using Compiz, it comes with several more options that you can configure.

Open your CompizConfig Settings Manager (System -> Preferences -> CompizConfig Settings Manager).

Scroll down the list to find “Resize Window”.

Click on it to enter its configuration page. From here, you can enable and assign the hotkey for different resize mode. In this example, I have enabled the “Initiate Outline Window Resize” mode and assign the hotkey “Alt + Super + W” to activate it.

That’s it. This should solve your window resizing woes.

For those who have not heard of Afloat, it is an useful software that you can use to keep an application window “always on top” of all other windows. One thing for sure, Afloat 2.2 brings some new features that are not available in previous version.

Make windows appear in all spaces

If you are a great fan of Spaces in Mac, then you are going to love this feature. If you are working on a project and have several application opened in different spaces, instead of traversing between spaces to access your data, you can make the application window follow you around, without you having to do the manual work.

Resize windows easily

The usual way of resizing an application window in Mac is to move your mouse to the right bottom corner of the window and drag to resize. With Afloat 2.2, you can now press Ctrl + Command + right mouse click to resize the window from anywhere inside the window region.

Move window around without dragging the title bar

By pressing Ctrl + Command + left mouse click, you can move the window around easily and quickly (similar to the Alt + left mouse click feature in Linux Compiz).

Pin to the desktop

You can also pin a window to the desktop and make it persistent. With this feature turn on, even the “Show Desktop” command will not hide the window.

Existing functionality

For those who are new to Afloat, here are some of the functionality that existed since version 1

Afloat: keep the window “always on top”. Accessible via the shortcut key Ctrl + Command + A or via the Window menu. (Note: the shortcut key don’t work in Preview)

Add transparency to windows: Press Ctrl + Command + mouse wheel scroll to change the transparency of the window. This is useful if you just want to take a quick peek at the windows beneath.

Make window an overlay: This turns a window into an overlay. When this mode is on, it will not respond to any mouse click or keyboard entry.

One thing to note: Afloat does not work with all applications. It only works for Cocoa based applications, such as Safari, Preview, iChat etc. Carbon based applications like iTunes and Finder do not get the love.