I guess. . . but even around that time, when I was doing a lot of work on a pretty pixel-limited laptop screen, I typically made real estate by just having seve

I guess. . . but even around that time, when I was doing a lot of work on a pretty pixel-limited laptop screen, I typically made real estate by just having several different virtual terminal sessions (plus one for X). A flick of an F-key to switch VT's wasn't as quick as a flick of the eyes, but it was close enough. And way better than anything that involves reaching for the mouse, which would seem to be an essential part of doing it in a 3D DE.