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Ask HN: Do you use the virtual desktops feature in OS X Mountain Lion?

3 points by alexbrand09 14y ago

Do you have more than one desktop in OS X Mountain Lion? If so, what is your setup?

dalke 14y ago
No. Multiple virtual desktops confuse me.
- sheraz 14y ago
  Agreed. So much better with a second monitor when I need it. Otherwise alt-tab is fine.
Wilduck 14y ago
Yes absolutely. I have an 11' Air and I really like being able to transition between known desktop layouts with just a three finger swipe. Below is a picture and description of how I keep my desktops organized. +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ | F | | T | |EF | |Ch | | G | |Pdf| +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ F = All my "fun" windows. Chrome with facebook, hn, reddit, etc; iTunes; Other programs that I open and close occasionally like chat, torrent software, etc. T = full screen terminal. I use the basic terminal included with OSX. I keep a bunch of tabs open on it. This window/desktop is the home base for my development work that touches any of my servers. EF = Emacs and Finder. I spend a lot of time on this desktop since I use a GUI Emacs for all my local development and org-mode for all my notes/lists, etc. I also like having finder here to look for/organize files on the filesystem. This desktop is conveniently located between my terminal and webbrowser. Ch = Google Chrome, open with documentation, tutorials, and other resources for development. This gets its own desktop since I will often keep multiple windows open with many tabs each. Each chrome window will relate to a different project that I'm working on. G = The Gimp (also occasionally Inkscape or other image editing software) Pdf = full screen PDFs that I'm reading like books. I could have many of these open, and I leave them open all the time so I don't loose my place.
- decad 14y ago
  I have a 15' Mac book pro and this is almost exactly how I have it most of the time. Three finger swipes to change window is more effective than alt-tabbing for me.
- tagabek 14y ago
  How do you keep your desktops separate? It seems that any change made in one is automatically made in the others. I have found that you can limit an application to one desktop, but if that is true, then how do you use two separate Chrome tabs in two different desktops?
  - Wilduck 14y ago
    I'm not totally sure what you're asking. I've never seen a change made to one desktop made automatically to the others. The problem I do run in to is that when I open a program for the first time it seems to appear in one of my desktops at random. When that happens I just three finger swipe up and drag the window to the desktop it belongs in. I never limit a program to one desktop, I just move its window there if it gets out of place. These things really aren't too much of an issue for me though, mostly because I am loath to ever close a window or restart a program, which leads to everything happily sitting where I placed it.
whichdan 14y ago
I use it once in a while. My problem is that I want some apps to show up on the current desktop, while others should be tied to a specific one. Because that isn't possible (as far as I know), something like an instant messenger will constantly throw me off by switching my desktop for no good reason.
- tagabek 14y ago
  If you two-finger click the application, it will give you the option to assign it to a specific desktop.
  - whichdan 14y ago
    Oh that's cool, I never knew there was an "All Desktops" option. Would have saved me a bunch of grief a few days ago..
randiSP 14y ago
I use it a lot in my 13" Air, I switched from PC+Ubuntu desktop to MacOS and having multiple desktops makes perfect sense to me since day one. But I've got a weird issue with multiple monitors and extended desktop, when I switch from a virtual desktop to another one, monitor shows a gray background and I can't place windows on it making multiple monitors plus virtual desktops totally useless.

3 points by alexbrand09 14y ago

Do you have more than one desktop in OS X Mountain Lion? If so, what is your setup?

dalke 14y ago

No. Multiple virtual desktops confuse me.

sheraz 14y ago
Agreed. So much better with a second monitor when I need it. Otherwise alt-tab is fine.

Wilduck 14y ago

Yes absolutely. I have an 11' Air and I really like being able to transition between known desktop layouts with just a three finger swipe. Below is a picture and description of how I keep my desktops organized. +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ | F | | T | |EF | |Ch | | G | |Pdf| +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ F = All my "fun" windows. Chrome with facebook, hn, reddit, etc; iTunes; Other programs that I open and close occasionally like chat, torrent software, etc. T = full screen terminal. I use the basic terminal included with OSX. I keep a bunch of tabs open on it. This window/desktop is the home base for my development work that touches any of my servers. EF = Emacs and Finder. I spend a lot of time on this desktop since I use a GUI Emacs for all my local development and org-mode for all my notes/lists, etc. I also like having finder here to look for/organize files on the filesystem. This desktop is conveniently located between my terminal and webbrowser. Ch = Google Chrome, open with documentation, tutorials, and other resources for development. This gets its own desktop since I will often keep multiple windows open with many tabs each. Each chrome window will relate to a different project that I'm working on. G = The Gimp (also occasionally Inkscape or other image editing software) Pdf = full screen PDFs that I'm reading like books. I could have many of these open, and I leave them open all the time so I don't loose my place.

decad 14y ago
I have a 15' Mac book pro and this is almost exactly how I have it most of the time. Three finger swipes to change window is more effective than alt-tabbing for me.
tagabek 14y ago
How do you keep your desktops separate? It seems that any change made in one is automatically made in the others. I have found that you can limit an application to one desktop, but if that is true, then how do you use two separate Chrome tabs in two different desktops?
- Wilduck 14y ago
  I'm not totally sure what you're asking. I've never seen a change made to one desktop made automatically to the others. The problem I do run in to is that when I open a program for the first time it seems to appear in one of my desktops at random. When that happens I just three finger swipe up and drag the window to the desktop it belongs in. I never limit a program to one desktop, I just move its window there if it gets out of place. These things really aren't too much of an issue for me though, mostly because I am loath to ever close a window or restart a program, which leads to everything happily sitting where I placed it.

whichdan 14y ago

I use it once in a while. My problem is that I want some apps to show up on the current desktop, while others should be tied to a specific one. Because that isn't possible (as far as I know), something like an instant messenger will constantly throw me off by switching my desktop for no good reason.

tagabek 14y ago
If you two-finger click the application, it will give you the option to assign it to a specific desktop.
- whichdan 14y ago
  Oh that's cool, I never knew there was an "All Desktops" option. Would have saved me a bunch of grief a few days ago..

randiSP 14y ago

I use it a lot in my 13" Air, I switched from PC+Ubuntu desktop to MacOS and having multiple desktops makes perfect sense to me since day one. But I've got a weird issue with multiple monitors and extended desktop, when I switch from a virtual desktop to another one, monitor shows a gray background and I can't place windows on it making multiple monitors plus virtual desktops totally useless.