Some apps, like Mail or Spotify (for example), do actually go full screen when I click the green button to maximize. Other apps, like you mentioning Chrome, don't. This makes me believe it has to do with how the app is coded, not a OSX problem.
What drives me crazy is that sometimes running youtube videos in full-screen mode under Chrome will sometimes initiate the Lion full-screen behavior, and sometimes it won't. If there is a rhyme or reason behind it, I don't know it.
Some apps, like Mail or Spotify (for example), do actually go full screen when I click the green button to maximize. Other apps, like you mentioning Chrome, don't. This makes me believe it has to do with how the app is coded, not a OSX problem.