Curious why?

[gnappi]

I downloaded and installed 3.4 and after finding that it had to be installed in order, the IDE struck me as odd.

Why is it that it comes up in four separate windows? If I minimize it I have to open them all separately. Is there a way to stitch them together?

[Handoko]

Because some users may find it useful.

Lets not argue about it now, I know it is not beginner friendly. You can turn it off by:
Lazarus main menu > Tools > Options > Window > Show single button in TaskBar

[jamie]

Or install anchored docking package for the IDE and get a full screen of a fixed work flow.


For me, I have many other forms open form other apps and I need to do lots of dragging and dropping between the IDE etc.

[TRon]

I addition to Handoko's answer you can also install anchordocking package so that there is a single IDE window.

edit: oops crossed with Jamie.

[ASBzone]

edit: oops crossed with Jamie.

We'll forgive you for an 18-second differential on the post. 😁😁

[furious programming]

Why is it that it comes up in four separate windows?

Same as old Delphi IDE. This is probably the main reason why.

I work with source code most of the time, so I have two code editors on two screens (stretched across entire screens) all the time. It doesn't waste space on displaying windows I don't need at the moment. And if I need to use any window that is not visible, I show it from the keyboard (and close it after use so it doesn't get in the way).

Because the IDE consists of multiple windows, I have complete freedom as to their layout and visibility, I can work efficiently and conveniently, almost without touching the mouse. This is one of the many things I love about Lazarus.

If I minimize it I have to open them all separately.

Only if you minimize any code editor window or the form designer. Minimizing the entire IDE hides all its windows, and restoring shows all (those that were visible before minimizing IDE). This behavior is dictated by the operating system and works as designed.