Cycling through minimized windows

In addition to the built-in ways of cycling through windows, there is a nice shareware utility called Witch that is like Command + Tab on steroids. (You can easily remap keyboard shortcuts so that Witch uses Command + Tab, too.)

The website for the software is here (complete with a very nice screenshot).

The program costs 10 euros to register, but appears to work for a very long time without registration -- I finally did so after several months of use.

Highly recommended, especially for someone like me who came over from the Windows world recently and for whom the native Mac way of window-switching didn't quite mesh with my habits.

If you want to maximize a minimized application, cmd-tab to it, then keep holding cmd down and press the option key. Then release both option and command and the window will maximize.

Witch is great for shareware, but for free, this shortcut is your best option.

Also, my workflow changed quite a bit from windows (where I minimized all kinds of things) to the mac, where I hide stuff (cmd-H) instead. I find hiding to be superior to minimizing.

I also love the shortcut of holding opt-cmd down and clicking on an icon in the toolbar to hide everything besides the clicked on application. Tidies things up and makes it easy to access the desktop.

Snow Leopard Update:

If you cmd-tab to an application and then keep holding cmd and hit the up or down arrows, you'll enter an expose-like mode where all of the windows for that app (including the minimized ones) are selectable. Then you can just use your arrow keys to select the right window and hit enter to select it.

If full keyboard access is turned on in the system preferences, you can also use Ctrl + F3 to give the dock the keyboard focus. With the cursor keys you can then navigate to the the minimized window and use Return to unminimize the window.