The Joy of Virtual Desktops
Robert JanelleI dream of my perfect office with surreal artwork decorating the walls, the comfy chair and the desk that supports a dual monitor set-up.
Unfortunately, I always seem to wake up from this dream a couch that has stuffing spilling out with my Dell Inspiron laptop sitting next to me.
While my coffee table certainly isn’t going to serve as an ideal spot for multiple monitors, I’ve recently discovered an interesting way to get more screen real-estate on my little laptop.
Enter virtual desktops
With virtual desktops, in essence, a piece of software creates additional desktops. As in, if you were to grab a window with the mouse and drag it to the edge of the monitor, you’d keep going to another desktop.
“What’s the point?” you may be asking. For me, anyway, it’s compartmentalizing different tasks.
At first, I ran my browser and word processor on one desktop and kept my e-mail and calendar open on a different one. This reduced the temptation to keep staring at e-mail waiting for sources to get back to me (or work on “Inbox Zero” when I really should be writing) yet be able to quickly switch over to the appropriate desktop with a quick keystroke upon being notified of new mail.
That might make only a slight improvement for some people but I really discovered the power of virtual desktops when I added a third one for image editing, a job that really seems to clutter up the desktop and task bar.
Getting it running
Now, Linux users have this functionality built-in, as do Mac users running Leopard through Spaces. I’ll blame my being late to the party on being a Windows user who has no virtual desktop included.
So for my fellow Windows-running freelancers interested in giving virtual desktops a spin, you’ll need some third-party software. Since discovering this new way of working, I’ve tried several different solutions but the one I keep coming back to is an open-source app called VirtuaWin.
It’s pretty bare bones as far as functionality goes but it has a low memory foot-print and is dead simple to use. Though, like all my favourite open-source applications, there are plug-ins available to add more features.
Switch desktops with more eye candy
In researching virtual desktops, it seems there are a lot of developers who like to make them look really fancy.
For example, Linux users have access to the psychotic eye-candy that is Compiz Fusion while I toyed around with something called Yod’m 3D on Windows which effectively turned my desktop into a cube that could be rotated to the next desktop.
However, it seems Yod’m 3D is no longer free. It’s now a commercial application called DeskSpace.
But is there a point to fancy-pants desktop switching other than having something that’s pretty and shiny? Perhaps. Some people have said they find the sudden switch to a new batch of applications a little jarring and having the desktop rotate over makes an easier transition.
On the other hand, I had a tendency to sit there making my desktop spin because, well, I could.
Conclusion
For me, keeping different tasks in separate workspaces has helped organize my work flow and kept my little laptop screen uncluttered.
I realize for some it may seem like a waste of resources if you’re already using a mammoth monitor or two but on something small, it seems to help keep out the clutter if you’re doing work that involves having multiple programs open.
So ,over to you readers: have you found virtual desktops useful? If so, how are you using them?
felix
August 19th, 2008
I don’t know how I’d get along without virtual desktops! I suffered for years after switching to OSX from Linux, but having gotten Spaces, I was immediately addicted again. I have two screens and have several clients so I make my mail and IM sticky on one screen and then devote a virtual desktop to each client so they can each have their own browsers, terminals, etc…
I just wish Spaces had more features for each desktop - I wish I could name the desktops (instead of just being numbered) and that they could have distinct desktops so it was easier to see what desktop I was on.
Matthew King-Yarde
August 19th, 2008
I used to use Dexpot on Windows XP desktop. Since I now got a widescreen laptop with Vista, I didn’t think of installing Dexpot. After I saw this article, I was inspired to look for Dexpot again and give it a world. So, now I’m back into that habit.
Nu Digi
August 19th, 2008
I used to use Dexpot on Windows XP desktop. Since I now got a widescreen laptop with Vista, I didn’t think of installing Dexpot. After I saw this article, I was inspired to look for Dexpot again and give it a world. So, now I’m back into that habit.
P.S. - Can you remove my previous comment?
Dan Grossman
August 19th, 2008
I thought the article would be about running virtual PCs, operating systems within operating systems. Essential for a freelance designer, you can run Windows XP with IE6 inside your Vista with FF3 computer in a window withotu rebooting… test websites in all operating systems and browser combos with one PC.
kevin
August 19th, 2008
I use the MS Power toy Deskman on XP, have for several years now. Not sure what I’ll use when I switch to vista.
pavs
August 19th, 2008
@Dan You can still use IEs4Linux to test sites for IE compatibility inside Linux. The easier way would be to add IE Tab plugin for Firefox, which uses IE rendering engine.
Another option to check for cross-browser cross-platform compatibility would be to use browsershots.org which will take screenshots of your sites, pairing browsers with platform, and it’s free.
Virtual Desktop for Linux, can create infinite virtual desktops AFAIK, not limited to 4 desktops.
Virtual Desktops (regardless of OS) is a great way to increase productivity.
Stimul8d
August 19th, 2008
This is something i feel strongly about (sadly!). I still can’t understand why Microsoft haven’t integrated this functionality into the OS,..it’s a concept that’s been around for years!
I use virtual desktops religiously and i’ve tried and tested a lot of them. Most are pretty ropey but some are good. There are, however, a couple of things that almost ALL thses applications tend to screw up.
First off, most (including Desk Space and some other commercial ones) don’t extend the contextual menu for window title bars so that you can quickly send a window to another desktop with a right-click. When this is the case, they commonly have some other, more obtrusive method for managing windows but it’s ugly and feels like a kludgey afterthought everytime.
The second and more major beef is that a HUGE number of these apps often lose their handle (hWnd) on apps written against MFC,QT and in VB6 or earlier. They all seem to be tailored for applications written directly against Win32 / Java / .Net. While that covers most of the stuff that’s around these days it DOES get very annoying when an application just plain dissapears and though most have some sort of ‘rescue window’ option, it rarely works. You’re left having to close the app through the task manager.
My personal suggestion is if you don’t want to pay, Dexpot can’t be beaten. Even though it has some major flaws (some dialog boxes have not been translated from German), it’s damn reliable and very flexible. It handles sending windows to other desktops through the contextual menu and doesn’t mess up, regardless of which version of windows you’re using,..Vista included.
If you don’t mind paying, i’ve yet to find anything better than Cube Desktop (www.cudedesktop.com). It comes in 2 flavours, basic and pro. The basic verions is $9.95 which is $15 less than Desk Space, has more functionality and works more smoothly. The pro version does MUCH more; including OSX Exposé style window management. Again, while Otaku (who own Desk Space) offer a similar product which you can buy with Desk Space called Top Desk, it’s $34.95 for the bundle compared to the $19.95 of Cube Desktop Pro. They have multiple licencing options too.
Ben Helps
August 19th, 2008
@Dan: I use qemu for that myself, if I ever bother to check anything other than M$IE6-7 and FF2-3.
I use VirtuaWin myself on and off. The main problem I’ve run into is that my current work laptop (entry level Dell with Vista) even with 2GB memory can’t run too many things before beginning to crap out.
Tom Jenkins
August 19th, 2008
I’ve been using virtual desktops under Vista for a while now. I highly recommend Vista/XP Virtual Desktops which can be found at http://www.codeplex.com/vdm . The early releases had some stability issues but the latest version 0.9.1.0 has been rock solid for me. Best of all it’s free.
Deborah
August 19th, 2008
I just got a set of refurbished dual monitors from computergeeks.com. I didn’t think I’d ever find a set within a reasonable price range, but often times refurbished means that a corporate lease ran out and they were merely returned in good condition, cleaned up, and packaged for resale. Not a bad deal…
Set Sail - Patrick
August 19th, 2008
@pavs: The IEtab Firefox addon is great, but only uses the newest version of your installed IE Engine (IE7 on Vista). I think what Dan was alluding to is the fact that IE6 cannot run on Windows Vista and MUST be run on Windows XP or earlier, therefore necessitating the use of XP within Vista.
Stephen
August 19th, 2008
Yep, this is something where OSX certainly trumps Windows- it has spaces! It’s such a simple concept, yet incredibly relevant and helpful. I was a windows kid all through my adolescence and college years… now that I have OSX, I feel a little spoiled.
Not a slam to my Windows brethren in any way shape or form, I just feel very fortunate nowadays. Plus… dual-booting and virtual machines make OSX a no brainer for me.
David Morning
August 19th, 2008
Stimul8d: Microsoft has actually produced a virtual desktop package for XP, it just wasn’t part of the official release, so you had to download it yourself. It’s at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx
Andy R.
August 19th, 2008
I like the idea but I still prefer using a single desktop with my triple monitors. That way I can still “compartmentalize” tasks but I can see them all at once.
Kevin Crawford
August 19th, 2008
<3 spaces
Ryan
August 19th, 2008
Microsoft actually has a multiple desktop program on their site that you can download for Windows (XP only). It’s called the Deskman Powertoy.
I haven’t tried any others so I don’t know how it compares, but it seems to get the job done nicely.
Alek
August 19th, 2008
Oooh, good idea! I’ve never given this much thought as I rarely do serious amounts of work on my laptop, but I think I may just give it a try. Thanks for the post.
daaargh
August 20th, 2008
I’ve been using VirtuaWin for over a year now on my dual screen work machine. I only need to set the the desktop layout to 2 by one and I have essentially 4 screens to work with. It is fanastically convenient and easy to use especially since I have a tendancy to work accross many programs and windows.
TAND
August 20th, 2008
Good article Robert. Have you checked out 360 Desktop? I came across it the other day. Might be worth checking out http://www.360desktop.com/
Armand
August 21st, 2008
There are virtual desktops also included in nVidia graphics driversets. The nView Desktop Manager can be enabled through the control panel or the Advanced tab of the older nVidia display application and allows using mouse gestures, icons or hotkeys to switch desktops. The advantage of using this over third-party software is the way nVidia uses their CUDA GPU extensions to perform these tasks using the graphics processor, so less work for the CPU and faster desktop switches. You might already have a solution installed and just didn’t know!
grinaldo
August 22nd, 2008
Did anyone mention this Vista ready version from Microsoft:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc817881.aspx
nutral
August 30th, 2008
I tried to use virtual desktops but i don’t really find it useful. I already have an dual screen setup with a 22 and a 19inch screen running and already got 2950×1050 of screen estate wich is enough. on my laptop i have 1680×1050 wich is also enough. With virtual desktops it just gets so emty on every desktop that i keep switching.