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> Most workflows can benefit from multiple monitors. Maybe some people benefit from this but I’ve always found it distracting and in some cases a bit annoying.

• fortran77 6y ago
  I can toggle between virtual desktops with a keystroke in Windows, too! I have mine set to CTRL-WINDOWS-arrow. Let me know what you're having trouble with and I can help you get Windows 10 set up the way you want.
  • _Microft 6y ago
    This either works out of the box or it is something that PowerToys added (which I have installed, so I do not know for sure). Also very useful: the windows-key shortcut overview that the PowerToys added (keep the windows-keypressed for a second or two to bring it up).
  • smoe 6y ago
    Could you give me some pointers how to setup virtual desktops and tiled windows that are completely keyboard controllable? I only use W10 as a secondary OS and never used windows as main since XP/2000. So far never got to dig deeper into this. It seems to me that out of the box a lot of the functionality is there, but there are also a lot of related third party (often paid) tools. What are some good combination of tools (third party, paid or not) and settings for a more keyboard centric i guess you could call it, setup of Windows? At the moment to me it feels a bit like, that I could do everything with just keyboard but I'm not meant to.
    • Woberto 6y ago
      WINDOWS+arrow will tile the current window and give the opportunity to tile other windows next to it
  • thom 6y ago
    Without weird third party stuff, it annoys me that I can’t map desktops to Ctrl-1/2/3/4 which is how I have it set up in Linux. Hopefully they eventually make all this more flexible.
    • learc83 6y ago
      The easiest way to do stuff like this is with a keyboard that supports macros.
    • sp332 6y ago
      Doesn't that interfere with app shortcuts?
      • stjohnswarts 6y ago
        I think that depends on the apps you're using. I like his chances on the desktop switching being more handy than in app combinations.
  • tomlu 6y ago
    You need to be able to switch directly from workspace #1 to #8 (eg.), not hitting ctrl-windows-arrow 7 times. I use AutoHotKey for this purpose. I agree with the grandparent poster that the Windows situation is very bad compared to something like i3.
    • MperorM 6y ago
      For those on macOS this can be set in system preferences -> keyboard -> shortcuts -> mission control. I highly recommend using multiple desktops with dedicated hotkeys over alt+tab to switch between applications. Much much faster to press fn+cmd+<h, j , k, l> and immediately bring up the application you want than to tab until you find the application you are looking for.
• smoe 6y ago
  Same for me. Multiple desktops with tiled windows on a single screen has been a much better experience than the two screen setup I had in every job before. Example for my desktops setup for web application development over the last couple of years: 1. Browser with the product I'm currently working on, nothing else 2. Shells for all sorts of small tasks like tailing a log to REPLs for quick experimentations 3. Application IDE(s) 4. SQL IDE 5. Music player 6. Communication (Mail, slack, etc.) and secondary browser for miscellaneous things The greatest thing for me is, that what I'm currently doing is in full focus and everything else basically doesn't exist. No notifications dinging in peripheral vision or other distractions. Also it is nice, that when I switch to laptop only, the workflows are exactly the same just with more limited screen space = less tiles I can use. If for a given tasks it is beneficial to have things side by side, it is just a couple of key strokes to re-arrange windows and or create an ad-hoc desktop until the task is finished. Of course I could use multiple desktops and tiled windows on multiple screens, but from my experiments it added more complexity that benefits. I would rather go for a bigger, higher quality screen than adding another.
  • markstos 6y ago
    Agreed. My major workflows involve a 28" 4K screen with a tiling window manager. The second monitor is often empty or has chat window or music player in it.
    • rightbyte 6y ago
      Ye that is how I use multiple monitors too. 2nd monitor has something I use like 5 minutes to the hour, like Spotify etc.
    • dajohnson89 6y ago
      what does a 4k screen do for productivity? i get the image is clearer than 1080p but is it worth the higher spend?
      • alasdair_ 6y ago
        It lets you fit more stuff on the screen, legibly.
• throwayws 6y ago
  Assigning programs/roles to certain screens helped me there. For example the left monitor is the browser, the center the editor and the right for consoles. Though when a task only needs one screen for more than a couple of minutes to stay focused shutting off the other screens does help.
• namelosw 6y ago
  I found myself having productivity issues while having two displays because I always have to decide which display the window should belong to. Then I upgraded to 3 displays, it's much better. Because I have an explicit main display. So a viable way is, even with two displays, don't try to utilize them. Put the main one in the center, and pretend the other doesn't exist. Once you really want to use the other display, instead of for the sake of utilizing them only, you'll know it.
  • smoe 6y ago
    > So a viable way is, even with two displays, don't try to utilize them. I did that before switching to single display after having multiples from the first day of my career onwards. But I didn't even had to try. By the end, because of how my work and setup has evolved, the second display was switched off 99% of the time. So when I have the choice I put the entire budget into an ever better single monitor, rather than splitting it.
    • namelosw 6y ago
      I would recommend the same. I usually only put things like Slack or documentations in the off screens - it's pretty 'read only'. I also use ultrawide screens occasionally in my hometown's house. I found the problem with 3 displays is I cannot put one application span across displays or there would be a 'bar' in the center of the application. I have to put them far left or right instead of placing them in more comfort zones. With that being said, I ended up with 3 monitors in my apartment because I bought them incrementally across 3 years(though they're the same model). And also I play video games from time to time, for most of the games, it's better to have 3 monitors instead of an ultrawide one.
  • ryandrake 6y ago
    About four or five years ago, I was finally able to swing my ultimate monitor setup. 27” 5K iMac in the center and a 27” Thunderbolt Display (2560 x 1440) on both sides. All three wall mounted so I keep all my desk space free. The side displays are angled inward by about 20 degrees. Unlike windows and Linux, which both perpetually don’t seem to care about hi-dpi displays and low-dpi displays in the same desktop, macOS seamlessly handles dragging windows across the entire workspace. Main task in the main display, docs and other references on the left display and email/messages on the right. Works wonderfully. I’m so used to this setup that when I go to my real job and am constrained to a single monitor I feel like I’m looking through a periscope at my work.
• rozab 6y ago
  One situation where I've found it invaluable recently is Zoom standups. I like to see everyone at the same time rather than let Zoom decide who I want to look at, and our kanban board has 7 (!) columns. Of course I could just switch between these things, but you don't really notice the cognitive load that causes until it's gone (and I do use a nice tiling WM setup)
  • elliekelly 6y ago
    I’m saddened that so many morning standups have transitioned to video instead of quietly dying off.
    • tra3 6y ago
      Are you saying you don’t like the format, don’t find the meetings valuable, or both?
      • smoe 6y ago
        Not GP, but my impression is a bit, that the better things are going, the more farcical stand ups can become. The status update aspect of it could be automatized from the task management tooling, people reach out for help/input as needed and don't wait for the next stand up, socialize outside of these allocated slots, etc. With every recurring meeting no matter the frequency you have to be quite careful in my opinion and constantly re-evaluate and tweak to keep it useful most of the time, instead it being a dogmatic ritual that has to be done a specific way because somebody learned it as such from an "Agile" book, certificate, course, video.
        • ysavir 6y ago
          > The status update aspect of it could be automatized from the task management tooling, people reach out for help/input as needed and don't wait for the next stand up, socialize outside of these allocated slots, etc. People rarely understand the point of agile and, specifically, standups. Using it as a daily check in, especially as status updates, is contrary to agile's intentions. The real purpose is to make sure that people on the team frequently expose problems. If people are already doing that consistently, then standup as a practice is fairly moot.
• thom 6y ago
  Where it’s feasible for a given task, I find nothing more productive than just switching to a Linux virtual console and running Emacs in text mode there. The complete absence of doodads gives a huge boost to my focus.
• jniedrauer 6y ago
  I use a tiling window manager and often have up to 6 editor panels open at a time, spread across 3 monitors. I honestly don't know how people are productive with a single editor window.
• awinder 6y ago
  I was the same way and ultrawide is the happy medium for me. 1.5x width lets me have 3 columns of windows instead of 2 and then I virtual desktop for more expansion.
• swiley 6y ago
  IMO the WMs on windows and OSX sucks. sloppy focus is way more helpful than multiple monitors. You can have your editor largely obscured by documentation (or the other way around) and still type. This is especially nice with modern UIs which seem to think wasting screen real estate with white space and ribbons is an important recent innovation.
• olvy0 6y ago
  I personally find multiple monitors to be very distracting, in fact I get headaches and dizziness when sitting with someone with 2 or more monitors. I'm so used to a single monitor that the fact the mouse cursor doesn't stop at the edge of the screen and goes on to the other one is extremely disorienting. Now, I'm sure I could get used to 2 monitors, and I'm just stuck in my ways, but for my current workflow I don't see the benefit. I'm distracted enough as it is by emails/chats.
• alasdair_ 6y ago
  For web stuff, I find having three monitors invaluable. One monitor for code, one for the browser (and devtools window) and a third for everything else (an API document, or a spec, a control for the music I'm streaming or a chat window etc.) I've found the same setup works really well for any workflow that involves making a small change and immediately seeing the result.
• zarkov99 6y ago
  I do this as well but I can get easily disoriented by the abrupt changes in the layout. Does that happen to you at all?
• humaniania 6y ago
  Task View and Windows Virtual Desktops are actually quite good in Windows 10. Most people never try them.