Native copy/paste typically requires a mouse. using tmux's copy-mode and pasting doesn't require a mouse an still stays inside panes.

Using a mouse, you can use tmux's new (in 1.8) pane expansion. prefix + z causes the current pane to take up the entire window. prefix + z again and it goes back to normal. Essentially, it's a maximized/restore capability.

rad, learned a new trick. thanks!

But the tmux copy paste is horribly inefficient.

Less efficient than reaching for the mouse? :)

In iTerm2 I use command+f and expand the selection using tab/shift+tab.

Now that's the kind of out of box thinking I like to see (leaning on selection auto-copy). Works well, thanks.