In previous versions I have not observed this problem. Now that I am running 1.7.4, when I launch, it goes full-screen (as that is what it remembers from previous runs), but when I attempt to switch to windowed mode, either through the Options dialog or by pressing F11, the screen goes black and stays black. I tried clicking on that screen and pressing Alt-F4, but instead of closing Minecraft, it closed other applications I was running. I may simply have missed the Minecraft window in my blind clicking, though.

The music being played by the game at the menu screen continues playing without issue.