What is the purpose of the extra room on Finder's "View Options" window? I am running 10.6.8 on a late 2008 MBP.
I know this has been the look of the "View Options" window for a while, but I just really noticed all of the extra space at the bottom. It's now being used in 10.7.x for the new and altered "View Options," which takes advantage of the extra real estate, but was there any use for it otherwise?  In other words, are there other options or preferences that can be added to this space?
It depends on the Finder view mode. There are different settings for List, Column, Icon and Cover Flow views, and depending on that, the panel is filled less or more.
Only in Icon mode the entire space is filled: