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It's way too nice to Apple to call their piss-poor Spaces "Virtual Desktops". Call me when I can finally arrange them how I want (i.e. 2 rows, 2 columns) and no

It's way too nice to Apple to call their piss-poor Spaces "Virtual Desktops". Call me when I can finally arrange them how I want (i.e. 2 rows, 2 columns) and not have them in line, which is stupid and inefficient. I'd also like a call when Apple finally implements maximize for windows. And don't get me wrong, I am a Mac user, just a highly frustrated one when I see people praising them as the second coming of the prophet even though a lot of extremely useful features are just missing because some dude at Cupertino decided that Mac users didn't need them. PS: Negative post, I know, but it feels good.

selectodude 13y ago
Agreed. Spaces circa 10.6 was so much better than the crap we have now. But it seems like Apple is at least fixing their regressions for the first time since 10.7.
- caiob 13y ago
  It was indeed, but the usage was much lower. At least people use that feature now.
alayne 13y ago
It's best to just have keyboard shortcuts for each space (Control 1-4) rather than move left to right. Even if you are moving in a 2x2 virtual screen you usually still have the inefficient diagonal case.
- VeejayRampay 13y ago
  You're absolutel right about that. I should have mentioned that I mostly use 3 virtual desktops (browser in the first one, vim in the second and some messaging app on the third) so I do arrows for 99% of my moving anyway.
0x09 13y ago
You should try TotalSpaces. I can't speak for it, but it appears to replace the functionality lost from 10.6. For me Spaces in 10.5 and 10.6 is as good as any *nix WM and better than several due to the linear wrapping behavior (on a 2x2 grid any workspace is accessible via directional key from any other.)
bluthru 13y ago
They're not "stupid" and "piss-poor". Linear desktops are a huge usability win for a multitude of reasons: * It's spatially an easier mental model. * This mental model is consistent with iOS multitasking and iOS home screen. * It allows for simple gestures to switch between desktops. * In western society, we read from left to right. New is to the right. Fullscreen a new desktops are added to the right. * This also sets up a linear "Forward/back" model similar to web pages. * You can easily add ONE desktop on the fly. No need to make it a grid for no reason. * The biggest reason: Spaces and expose are unified into Mission Control. One action to see EVERYTHING. This is a huge plus, as people don't have to check two different locations for a window. A grid of desktops wouldn't fit up above in mission control. * There's nothing below the dock and there's nothing above the menubar. Simple mental model. Regarding "maximize for windows": * It's a "fit window to content" button. A window shouldn't take up more space than is necessary in a multi-tasking environment. Regardless, there is a fullscreen mode and windows also remember their position and dimensions if you drag them.
- baddox 13y ago
  > * It's spatially an easier mental model. This is the only point that really matters, and I think it's false. A square grid is a far easier mental model for me. Remembering if something else is above|below|to the left|to the right of where I am is way easier to remember and visualize than how many slots to the right or left something is.
  - buo 13y ago
    I have four virtual desktops mapped to WinKey+{a,s,z,x}. I've used this scheme for so long that the keys are hardwired in my brain and I can switch desktops without even thinking about it. In particular, I don't care if the window manager organizes the desktops in a matrix or linearly, since I don't need a visual representation. As an aside, my biggest gripe with Ubuntu is that they hard code the Win key to something else, which breaks my desktop switching habits.
    - VeejayRampay 13y ago
kozikow 13y ago
Did you try Amethyst: https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst ? It's Tiling WM modeled after xmonad for OSX. Among other things it brings better keyboard support to spaces. I have keyboard shortcut for "move to n-th space", "move focused window to n-th/left/right space". And since you mentioned maximizing - since it's modeled after xmonad (tiling WM) every window is maximized when opened (or splitted with current focused windows, depening on your layout).
wting 13y ago
You might want to look into BetterTouchTool (http://www.boastr.de/ http://www.boastr.de/). It gives you the ability to map keys to full screen maximize, left and right split, and a plethora of other options.

selectodude 13y ago

Agreed. Spaces circa 10.6 was so much better than the crap we have now. But it seems like Apple is at least fixing their regressions for the first time since 10.7.

caiob 13y ago
It was indeed, but the usage was much lower. At least people use that feature now.

alayne 13y ago

It's best to just have keyboard shortcuts for each space (Control 1-4) rather than move left to right. Even if you are moving in a 2x2 virtual screen you usually still have the inefficient diagonal case.

VeejayRampay 13y ago
You're absolutel right about that. I should have mentioned that I mostly use 3 virtual desktops (browser in the first one, vim in the second and some messaging app on the third) so I do arrows for 99% of my moving anyway.

0x09 13y ago

You should try TotalSpaces. I can't speak for it, but it appears to replace the functionality lost from 10.6. For me Spaces in 10.5 and 10.6 is as good as any *nix WM and better than several due to the linear wrapping behavior (on a 2x2 grid any workspace is accessible via directional key from any other.)

bluthru 13y ago

They're not "stupid" and "piss-poor". Linear desktops are a huge usability win for a multitude of reasons: * It's spatially an easier mental model. * This mental model is consistent with iOS multitasking and iOS home screen. * It allows for simple gestures to switch between desktops. * In western society, we read from left to right. New is to the right. Fullscreen a new desktops are added to the right. * This also sets up a linear "Forward/back" model similar to web pages. * You can easily add ONE desktop on the fly. No need to make it a grid for no reason. * The biggest reason: Spaces and expose are unified into Mission Control. One action to see EVERYTHING. This is a huge plus, as people don't have to check two different locations for a window. A grid of desktops wouldn't fit up above in mission control. * There's nothing below the dock and there's nothing above the menubar. Simple mental model. Regarding "maximize for windows": * It's a "fit window to content" button. A window shouldn't take up more space than is necessary in a multi-tasking environment. Regardless, there is a fullscreen mode and windows also remember their position and dimensions if you drag them.

baddox 13y ago
> * It's spatially an easier mental model. This is the only point that really matters, and I think it's false. A square grid is a far easier mental model for me. Remembering if something else is above|below|to the left|to the right of where I am is way easier to remember and visualize than how many slots to the right or left something is.
- buo 13y ago
  I have four virtual desktops mapped to WinKey+{a,s,z,x}. I've used this scheme for so long that the keys are hardwired in my brain and I can switch desktops without even thinking about it. In particular, I don't care if the window manager organizes the desktops in a matrix or linearly, since I don't need a visual representation. As an aside, my biggest gripe with Ubuntu is that they hard code the Win key to something else, which breaks my desktop switching habits.
  - VeejayRampay 13y ago

kozikow 13y ago

Did you try Amethyst: https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst ? It's Tiling WM modeled after xmonad for OSX. Among other things it brings better keyboard support to spaces. I have keyboard shortcut for "move to n-th space", "move focused window to n-th/left/right space". And since you mentioned maximizing - since it's modeled after xmonad (tiling WM) every window is maximized when opened (or splitted with current focused windows, depening on your layout).

wting 13y ago

You might want to look into BetterTouchTool (http://www.boastr.de/ http://www.boastr.de/). It gives you the ability to map keys to full screen maximize, left and right split, and a plethora of other options.