With Presentation Manager under previous versions of OS/2, when a window was minimized it would be shrunk to an icon and placed on the desktop. The user could restore the window either by double-clicking mouse button 1 on its icon, or by using the Task List. When the window was restored, the icon disappeared from the desktop and was replaced by the window.
Under the Workplace Shell, when the user opens an object its icon remains on the desktop, but its background changes to show that it is open. When the user closes a window, the icon background changes to show that there is no longer an open window.
If the window is minimized, the window disappears but the icon background does not change; this shows that the window is still open but has simply been "hidden." The system settings allow the user to choose between "hiding" and "minimizing" a window. There are a further two options for the minimize function.
The first minimize option puts a Minimized Window folder on the desktop so that users can access any minimized windows from it, while the second puts the minimized windows directly on the desktop. This latter approach is more compatible with OS/2 Version 1.3 but may prove confusing to users.
The Workplace Shell has replaced the Presentation Manager Task List with a Window List. The Window List represents all objects which are currently open or active, and allows the user to find and restore windows which are open but hidden. The Window List can be accessed at any time by chording the mouse buttons over the desktop. Subsequent selection of a single line with mouse button 1 and opening of the context menu with mouse button 2 offers various choices to select the desired view of the object.