[tweetmeme] One of the better things about Windows 7 is it’s window management features. I’m not sure what it’s called—probably something hip like ‘ultra zones’—but you can drag a window to the left or right, and have it resize itself to exactly half your screen. Similarly, if you want to maximize, take it to the top. It’s a very intuitive and usable workflow, and here’s an app that brings it to the Mac.

Coming from the house of Irradiated Software, the ‘window experts’ [1. They do two other apps 'TwoUp' and 'SizeUp', both previously reviewed here.], Cinch pretty much—to put it bluntly—copies that behaviour and brings it right to your Mac. There’s not much to discuss here other than it pretty much works as it should. And that’s not a bad thing. Drag to the left, it makes this Safari window take up half the screen. Drag it out, and it goes back to its previous state. Wonderful. The beautiful icon which you pretty much don’t see after installing is designed by Matthew Rex; good stuff.

Known issues include certain apps behaving odd, and quirky behavior with Spaces enabled (if you hold it too long it might expand and switch spaces at the same time). I haven’t tested it extensively, but for most part it has worked without any issues these past few days.

At $7, it’s a steal if you need this kind of functionality—I’m sure many switches are dying for a maximize button. There is of course a trial to help you decide; highly recommended.