Apparently not.


They do not have to be minimized and some overlap is quite acceptable if you want it that way.

Application windows have three states: maximized; normal; minimized:
• When an application window is maximized and active, that is generally the only application window you'll see on screen. You can maximize multiple windows, but only the active one will generally be visible (some apps don't occupy the full screen even when maximized).
• When an application window is minimized, the application window will essentially be closed and you'll only see it on the taskbar.
• When an application window is in the normal state, its window can be resized and repositioned, so that it occupies only part of the screen; that part may or may not overlap some or all of the window of another application and, if there is any overlap, the active application window will hide whatever part of the other window(s) it overlaps.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]