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I generally prefer MDI applications to having separate desktop windows for everything. I currently use SpaceFM, which isn't quite MDI (it only supports 1 to 4

I generally prefer MDI applications to having separate desktop windows for everything. I currently use SpaceFM, which isn't quite MDI (it only supports 1 to 4 active frames which are tiled automatically), but combined with tabs per frame makes it really practical. It also remembers all of your open frames and tabs between sessions, and supports different view styles per frame. For some aspects, the configuration is per layout. So you have 1-4 frames, which makes for 15 possible layout options (as it doesn't support 0 frames). It's odd that people simultaneously claim to not like MDI, but at the same time prefer to use stacking window managers and are generally averse to tiling window managers.

WorldMaker 9y ago
Something I think underappreciated by most was Windows 8's experiments with a full tiling window manager option, which I used pretty heavily but confused too many users and got pulled. (I tend to use xmonad on Linux.) I hope Microsoft revisits the idea eventually, at least as an option. The semi-maximized "quadrants" are a decent compromise, at least (window snap, aero snap, whichever name you prefer). I think the issue with MDI will always be that every MDI "host" has to implement a lot of window management that the OS gives SDI windows "for free" and can evolve independently. Including the option to switch between a stacking window manager and a tiling window manager; if the OS adds that as a feature most SDI apps don't need to change, but suddenly MDI applications feel out of date or need to do a lot of work to reimplement it (likely in a way that will never feel in sync with the OS). (At least on Windows where an MDI window management framework has never been directly provided.) I'm somewhat excited by the Sets preview in Windows Insider builds (skip ahead) that allows grouping multiple heterogeneous windows into "tabs" together. That seems a good MDI-esque compromise.

WorldMaker 9y ago

Something I think underappreciated by most was Windows 8's experiments with a full tiling window manager option, which I used pretty heavily but confused too many users and got pulled. (I tend to use xmonad on Linux.) I hope Microsoft revisits the idea eventually, at least as an option. The semi-maximized "quadrants" are a decent compromise, at least (window snap, aero snap, whichever name you prefer). I think the issue with MDI will always be that every MDI "host" has to implement a lot of window management that the OS gives SDI windows "for free" and can evolve independently. Including the option to switch between a stacking window manager and a tiling window manager; if the OS adds that as a feature most SDI apps don't need to change, but suddenly MDI applications feel out of date or need to do a lot of work to reimplement it (likely in a way that will never feel in sync with the OS). (At least on Windows where an MDI window management framework has never been directly provided.) I'm somewhat excited by the Sets preview in Windows Insider builds (skip ahead) that allows grouping multiple heterogeneous windows into "tabs" together. That seems a good MDI-esque compromise.