The Regular Virtual Desktop Effect (was Re: The Cube Efffect)

[Kendric Beachey]

On Jan 26, 2008 3:48 PM, Jon Pruente <jdpruente at gmail.com> wrote:
> It took me a while to get the idea in my head.  I was used to
> minimizing programs when not in use, as I'd been doing that since the
> late '80s on Amigas where I learned about real multitasking before I
> got in to UNIX-like systems with even better MT, back when screen real
> estate mattered even more.  I don't remember exactly when I broke from
> a single desktop setup to using virtual desktops but it is a definite
> change of pace.  It probably really started when I was getting used to
> multiple VTs on older systems that didn't run a GUI nicely back in the
> day.

I got hooked on virtual desktops back in college when I found out
about the "tvtwm" window manager.  Haven't been able to go back to
single desktop since without a lot of complaining (and since that
usually means running Windows as well...a LOT of complaining.  ;-)  )

I have been fortunate to have a lot of opportunities to use large
monitors; this probably helps me get more out of virtual desktops.  I
tend to run everything maximized all the time.  More real estate is
more better.

As for how I use them, at home my machines have only four desktops
(spinny-cube style), usually one with Firefox and one with a terminal
session ssh'd to another box with irssi going in a screen session.
The other two are used more sporadically when I want to pull up some
photos or something.

At work I use 8 desktops, two rows of four (non-spinny style due to ATI cards):

1) miscellaneous stuff...music player, nautilus windows, etc. as needed
2) terminal session ssh'd to home (one tab with the irssi screen
session, other tabs with bash prompts)
3) usually a specs document or something similar
4) Evolution
5) terminal session with many tabs ssh'd to various server machines in
the office
6) terminal session with many tabs on my own box in various
directories in various code trees
7) Eclipse
8) Firefox

In principle I like a lot of the window grouping/sorting/switching
features of Compiz Fusion, and if I had nvidia cards at work so I
could run it there I would probably look into those features more.
But for now I'm stuck in the "maximized windows on multiple desktops"
mindset I've had since about 1993.
-- 
Kendric Beachey