How can I customize my Visual Studio panels to take less screenspace?

Answer 1

I don't know how to customize panels the way you're asking, but I've found my own way of dealing with panels I don't need all the time.

I keep panels like errors, search results or output set to Auto-Hide. That way they can take up a pretty decent amount of space when I want to see the lists, but they're not visible at all the rest of the time. Works well for me. When I'm not using one of those panels the only windows that are visible are the solution explorer and the code editor.

Answer 2

If you can afford more monitors, get them. You won't have to worry about auto-hide and you'll have enough room for it all.