The menu bar is part of a hierarchy of application > window, rather than window = application instance. Because of this, the self-contained application window is a bitch to deal with when using different windows across different applications. I have to use Dreamweaver due a bunch of pre-written macros. I can't ever, ever, ever take a tab out of Dreamweaver and pair it with a specific preview firefox window (at least under Windows).
That's not to say that the Mac's window model is without fault. But, it is much easier to patch to one's liking: http://manytricks.com/witch/
Multiple monitors. Why try to cram it all into one? It makes no sense. It is not uncommon for me to have ten applications open and actively in use. In some cases (say, Excel) multiple files open. On our engineering workstations we have a minimum of three 24 inch monitors. Going back and forth between applications, dragging and dropping data and selecting which application instance you need to work with is fluid and fast. Your Dreamweaver and Firefox example has a trivial solution once you add a second screen.
The menu bar is part of a hierarchy of application > window, rather than window = application instance. Because of this, the self-contained application window is a bitch to deal with when using different windows across different applications. I have to use Dreamweaver due a bunch of pre-written macros. I can't ever, ever, ever take a tab out of Dreamweaver and pair it with a specific preview firefox window (at least under Windows).
That's not to say that the Mac's window model is without fault. But, it is much easier to patch to one's liking: http://manytricks.com/witch/