Utility Windows

The Apple Human Interface Guidelines say:

A user can open several utility windows at a time; they float on top of document windows. When a user makes a document active, all of the application’s utility windows should be brought to the front, regardless of which document was active when the user opened the utility window. When your application is inactive, its utility windows should be hidden. Utility windows should not be listed in the Window menu as documents, but you may put commands to show or hide all utility windows in the Window menu.

But the example given includes a regular Finder Info window:

However, Finder Info windows do not float or hide when inactive, and they do appear in the Window menu. The guidelines go on to say:

A user would never need to minimize a utility window because it is displayed only when needed and disappears when its application is inactive. Therefore, the minimize button is always unavailable.

I was actually looking at the HIG to see if it had anything to say about the new “Unified title/toolbar look” option in Tiger, but I couldn’t find anything.

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