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With the OS X menuying system that sticks to one monitor, I've always found using multiple monitors awkward on the Mac. I've never had a good solution to this o

With the OS X menuying system that sticks to one monitor, I've always found using multiple monitors awkward on the Mac. I've never had a good solution to this other than learn shortened for every app. But there isn't always a shortcut for what you want. Has any HN fellows ever found a good way to make multiple monitors more usable on the Mac?

evilduck 15y ago
Secondbar (I'm not sure about Lion compatibility): http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=79 http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=79 It puts another identical menubar on the second screen. If you prefer a more "vanilla" option, I've found that putting the menubar on the right screen and the blank screen on the left reduces mouse travel (you can move the menu between monitors in Display Preferences). Since menu for an app is filled left to right, menu items are then closer to the center of your workspace.
- Slackwise 15y ago
  Honestly, this has been my argument against the menubar. It made sense in MacOS 1.0 and similar, but nowadays, it's just an archaic element kept for unknown reasons. It's one thing that it's incredibly inconvenient in a multiple-monitor setup, it's another that the menubar is context-sensitive. So even if you've got the right app selected, you may have the wrong window, and when you go to print, you get the wrong page. Worse than that is that depending which window is chosen, certain options will also be grayed out. It's the least innovative feature in MacOS X, and personally, I think it should go. You'd think by now that we'd come up with something better than a crappy dropdown menu.
  - pkamb 15y ago
    Adding to that: 'modern' apps are doing away with menubars completely. Chrome has a single button for options/settings, Office has the Ribbon, etc. OS X requiring a menubar for apps, even when they don't need one, is a huge barrier to UI innovation.

evilduck 15y ago

Secondbar (I'm not sure about Lion compatibility): http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=79 http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=79 It puts another identical menubar on the second screen. If you prefer a more "vanilla" option, I've found that putting the menubar on the right screen and the blank screen on the left reduces mouse travel (you can move the menu between monitors in Display Preferences). Since menu for an app is filled left to right, menu items are then closer to the center of your workspace.

Slackwise 15y ago
Honestly, this has been my argument against the menubar. It made sense in MacOS 1.0 and similar, but nowadays, it's just an archaic element kept for unknown reasons. It's one thing that it's incredibly inconvenient in a multiple-monitor setup, it's another that the menubar is context-sensitive. So even if you've got the right app selected, you may have the wrong window, and when you go to print, you get the wrong page. Worse than that is that depending which window is chosen, certain options will also be grayed out. It's the least innovative feature in MacOS X, and personally, I think it should go. You'd think by now that we'd come up with something better than a crappy dropdown menu.
- pkamb 15y ago
  Adding to that: 'modern' apps are doing away with menubars completely. Chrome has a single button for options/settings, Office has the Ribbon, etc. OS X requiring a menubar for apps, even when they don't need one, is a huge barrier to UI innovation.