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virtual desktops in Tiger?!!

cb911

cb911

macrumors 601
Original poster
i just saw this link on the Apple forums. it's an interview with the creator of Desktop Manager, the open source virtual desktop manager for OS X.

anyway, it's a very interesting read.

Rich Wareham of Desktop Manager

so it looks like it wouldn't be too hard for Apple to implement Virtual Desktops in Tiger... 😉 well we can always hope. 😀
 
We can only hope.... If Apple did this, it would be another reason for me to drop Linux.....


....but then again, I'm willing to bet green monkeys will fly out of my butt before Apple does something like this....
 
it would be nice if Apple would put virtual desktops in Tiger, but as long as Rich keeps developing DesktopManager i'm going to be happy. 😀
 
Duff-Man says...I would not be surprised at all to see Apple implement it...it seems like it is one of the only things they have not done yet. Perhaps they are just trying to figure out the right kind of pizazz and eye-candy transitions for it - we know much Steve likes to show off the flashy eye-candy. Even with 2 monitors I would find it very useful sometimes and would welcome its inclusion....oh yeah!
 
wow, i've never thought about that. virtual desktops on two monitors! 😱 😀

after reading that article i get the feeling that virtual desktops wouldn't be hard at all for Apple to implement, and it seems that they've quitely included support for it all along, i a small kind of way.

they're probably just saving it for a 'killer feature' or something. or waiting until they have some revolutionary new way of implementing it.
 
Of course Apple adding Virtual Desktops to OS X would kill off at least 2 third party apps.

CodeTek Studios has it's VirtualDesktop products. Apple even fixe things in X11 and Expose to make sure they worked properly with VirtualDesktop.
 
well if Apple did release an implementation of virtual desktops in OS X, the others (CTVD & DesktopManager) would either have to decide if they wanted to improve their product, or be satisfied with what OS X came with.

i have a feeling that Rich would probably be happy about Apple's own virtual desktop, because he said in that interview that the only reason he did DesktopManager was because there isn't one in OS X.

and it's only because of technology that's already in OS X that even makes virtual desktops possible. as was said in that interview (from what i can remember) "someone at Apple either really likes virtual desktops, or they're saving it as a killer feature".
 
I want a desktop manager that switches from Aqua to X11, just that.. I do not need several aquia desktops, expose and dashboard do that trick better... I wish to have the best mac machines with the best X11 server in the same screen, just be hitting a keyboard Key... 😎
 
i don't use X11, so sorry if i don't fully understand, but couldn't you just have your Aqua windows on one virtual desktop, and your X11 windows on another virtual desktop?
 
cesar said:
I want a desktop manager that switches from Aqua to X11, just that.. I do not need several aquia desktops, expose and dashboard do that trick better... I wish to have the best mac machines with the best X11 server in the same screen, just be hitting a keyboard Key... 😎
Click to expand...
What do you need that clicking on the X11 icon in the dock won't provide?
 
Desktop manager is great, but sadly rather resource hungry. It would be good if Apple could integrate this into Tiger, and make it usable on older machines.

My 867MHz Powerbook is definitly slower when using DM, but a friends 1.5GHz 15" PB really flies.

Virtual desktops would be a very powerful feature for pro users, they needn't complicate the experience for most users, they could always be off by default.
 
will said:
Desktop manager is great, but sadly rather resource hungry. It would be good if Apple could integrate this into Tiger, and make it usable on older machines.

My 867MHz Powerbook is definitly slower when using DM, but a friends 1.5GHz 15" PB really flies.

Virtual desktops would be a very powerful feature for pro users, they needn't complicate the experience for most users, they could always be off by default.
Click to expand...
I think that if Apple integrates virtual desktops into Mac OS X, they should build it on a Quartz foundation, using the same scaling down effect used by Exposé and Quartz Extreme on older computers, and what will be used by Core Image in Tiger.
 
Desktop Manager - resource hungry?

i do admit i've seen a bit of a slow down when using DM, but i don't think that's entirely DM's fault. if you've got 4 virtual desktops, all with a few windows open... that's going to add up, it'd be just like having a heap of windows open without using DM, and i'm guessing you'd have a slow down anyway.


well i just hope one way or another we get virtual desktops in Tiger. one things for sure - whether it's Apple or a third party that makes it, we'll get all the new cool Core Image (maybe Core Video?) stuff!! 😀
 
cb911 said:
Desktop Manager - resource hungry?

i do admit i've seen a bit of a slow down when using DM, but i don't think that's entirely DM's fault. if you've got 4 virtual desktops, all with a few windows open... that's going to add up, it'd be just like having a heap of windows open without using DM, and i'm guessing you'd have a slow down anyway.
Click to expand...

Even if you have a few windows, I found moving between them could often be slow, especially if you were moving to a desktop with an app like Photoshop (which has several windows and pallets etc.). I'm guessing that's because DM has to get everything redrawn, whereas, assuming you have enough vram, the OS ought to be able to avoid that issue.

I'm not knocking DM, just saying I think this is a feature that would benefit from integration and support from Apple.
 
Expose Desktops

wrldwzrd89 said:
I think that if Apple integrates virtual desktops into Mac OS X, they should build it on a Quartz foundation, using the same scaling down effect used by Exposé and Quartz Extreme on older computers, and what will be used by Core Image in Tiger.
Click to expand...

I came in here thinking the EXACT same thing. Glad I found someone else already talking about it.

Many desktop managers on other platforms (I've not tried any on OSX yet) have a mode where you can see a (vague/bland) overview of each desktop in a small window. Expose features would be much, much better for this by being able to display, in typical Expose style, all of your virtual desktops in real time in full color and detail.

I'd wager the system could already support it if a few lines of code were added to Expose so that a new key (F8 maybe) would activate this 4th feature of Expose (since it already has "show all windows", "show current app's windows" and "show current desktop", just add "show all desktops").

Don
 
freiheit said:
I came in here thinking the EXACT same thing. Glad I found someone else already talking about it.

Many desktop managers on other platforms (I've not tried any on OSX yet) have a mode where you can see a (vague/bland) overview of each desktop in a small window. Expose features would be much, much better for this by being able to display, in typical Expose style, all of your virtual desktops in real time in full color and detail.

I'd wager the system could already support it if a few lines of code were added to Expose so that a new key (F8 maybe) would activate this 4th feature of Expose (since it already has "show all windows", "show current app's windows" and "show current desktop", just add "show all desktops").

Don
Click to expand...
Great idea freiheit! Does Apple know about this?
 
nice idea freiheit! 😀 i've never thought about Expose for virtual desktops!

well, Apple does know about it now. 😉

but it'd be good if you could go over there as well and explain it your way. if lots of people mail them about this, they'll hopefully see that lots of people want this feature (virtual desktops). of course, we don't want to just spam Apple...
 
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