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Am I the only one that doesn't like Spaces?

S

SR71

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 12, 2011
1,606
373
Boston, MA
Well, it seems that everyone here loves Spaces, but I just don't really see the point of it. I've tried to use it at least 4 times, but I just can't seem to find a real use for it.

So, am I the only one that thinks Spaces is dumb?

Maybe I'm just not using it correctly or understand how it is supposed to be used. In that case, can someone teach me?
 
EDIT
You created another thread in the Mac OS X 10.7 Lion sub forum, does that mean you meant Spaces in Lion? If so, Spaces in Lion is atrocious.
Btw, you can report your thread via the
report.gif
button to get it moved, as duplicate threads are not welcome, especially in such a short amount of time.
/EDIT


You can disable Spaces if it doesn't suit your needs.

I have 12 Spaces set up, the top row has 4 of them, which contain the browsers and FTP and system monitoring tools.
The middle row has all my DCC applications, like Avid Media Composer, Lightroom, Photoshop, After Effects and DVD Studio Pro and some more.
The bottom row contains iTunes and other media players and some text editing tools.

See below for an example:
Screen%20shot%202011-05-16%20at%2012.44.37%20PM.png
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

I don't use it
 
Find it fantastic for multiple jobs.

So I have safari, itunes, mail, calendar in my primary space - this is the day to day stuff.

Then, my second space has another safari window full of research related things, pages up with works in progress, any journals I am currently reading, any spreadsheets I am working on, etc.

Third space MAY have Parallels in it, if I am using it.

Fourth space is never really used.

But essentially, I separate spaces into area of work! I don't want to risk closing an important article that I'm reading whilst I'm just on facebook, so I separate them out!


They are definitely useful! Perhaps not the ultimate selling point, but definitely useful!
 
I made 2 threads because I wanted to get the views of spaces in Lion and Snow Leopard.
 
SR71 said:
I made 2 threads because I wanted to get the views of spaces in Lion and Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

Then clarify that in your OP using the
edit.gif
button.
Or you could have made one thread comparing the two different Spaces, or you could have looked at the dozens of already existing threads.
 
SR71 said:
Well, it seems that everyone here loves Spaces, but I just don't really see the point of it. I've tried to use it at least 4 times, but I just can't seem to find a real use for it.

So, am I the only one that thinks Spaces is dumb? I especially think that the way it's implemented in Lion is dumb.

Maybe I'm just not using it correctly or understand how it is supposed to be used. In that case, can someone teach me?
Click to expand...
What is it that you dont like about it just curious to find out Would like to see if I am experiencing the same issues
 
If you don't like it, don't use it. What's the big problem ?

Some of us do like Virtual Desktops, have used 'em for the last 15 or more years and couldn't be without them (Xcode on one, Windows VM on the other, Browser on yet another one, etc.. 1 Space per task).
 
I use it when I have too many documents open. Otherwise, I don't bother. I have 4 desktops because there's no benefit of having 2 spaces, IMO. It may take up a bit more RAM, but visually, using 2 desktops doesn't mean you get bigger desktops than when you ask for 4 desktops (did that make sense?). The rectangles take up the same amount of space, visually.

Anyway, I use Spaces, Dashboard, and Exposé with BetterTouchTool, which makes Spaces super useful.
 
Abstract said:
I have 4 desktops because there's no benefit of having 2 spaces, IMO.
Click to expand...

Uh ? I use 4 also, but that's because I usually have about 3 tasks going which I want to keep separate. However, someone who has 2 tasks could very well use 2 with no problems, I don't get why there's no benefit to having 2 spaces... ?

Depends on your workflow.

So no, your post didn't really make any sense. Unless you're only talking about the Pager. The Pager is just an app to quickly see what is on each space and move around them. It's not spaces itself.
 
There are like 4 threads about how loads of people hate the way Spaces is implemented in Lion. I love and need Spaces, but the way it is in Snow Leopard, not in Lion.

The point of Spaces - if you didn't figure it out already - is to have multiple virtual desktops. That allows you to have lots of windows open and reduce clutter. Say you're working on a text document and you are referencing a PDF to help you with the writing, you would put the two documents next to each other, leaving no space for other things. Then you want to browse the web at the same time, so you can just have a space right next to the current one, and have Safari open on it. You can, with one easy step, switch between Safari and your documents.

If you didn't have Spaces, you would have to either minimize, hide, or Exposé your windows all the time. With Spaces you don't have to worry about all that, and you can isolate tasks without the need to swap between windows all the time.

I don't see how it would be "dumb", unless you only use your computer to open 2-3 windows at a time.
 
baryon said:
There are like 4 threads about how loads of people hate the way Spaces is implemented in Lion. I love and need Spaces, but the way it is in Snow Leopard, not in Lion.

The point of Spaces - if you didn't figure it out already - is to have multiple virtual desktops. That allows you to have lots of windows open and reduce clutter. Say you're working on a text document and you are referencing a PDF to help you with the writing, you would put the two documents next to each other, leaving no space for other things. Then you want to browse the web at the same time, so you can just have a space right next to the current one, and have Safari open on it. You can, with one easy step, switch between Safari and your documents.

If you didn't have Spaces, you would have to either minimize, hide, or Exposé your windows all the time. With Spaces you don't have to worry about all that, and you can isolate tasks without the need to swap between windows all the time.

I don't see how it would be "dumb", unless you only use your computer to open 2-3 windows at a time.
Click to expand...

I totally agree I love Spaces the only issue is that when you set those apps to open in designated spaces then when you reboot it defaults bacck to opening in one space instead of the space you opened it in. I know it is due to it's preview status and i am dealing with it
I will experiment with the Preview issue that people are posting about
and give my opinion of that as well
I have to say I am somewhat satisfied with this upgrade since Safari was not working at all in DP2 it crashed even before I saw the browser on screen.
 
I couldn't live without Spaces now. For what it''s worth, I think it's more beneficial on a bigger screen where apps aren't hidden by the frontmost app. What's wrong with Spaces in Lion?
 
I don't think it's useful. Expose eliminates that need for me.

I can see how people do find it useful.

Mind you I have a dual monitor setup, so technically that's the real implementation of spaces. So I guess I do use it, and I don't.
 
I also don't like Mission Control and prefer the 10.5 version Expose/Spaces. It seem to put an emphasis on rapid access to content versus making everything look pretty for pretty's sake.

Is there anyway that some developer could make their own version of Expose/Spaces? I know that clones have been made for Windows and Linux but I'm a novice programmer and would not be able to make my own any time soon.
 
KnightWRX said:
Uh ? I use 4 also, but that's because I usually have about 3 tasks going which I want to keep separate. However, someone who has 2 tasks could very well use 2 with no problems, I don't get why there's no benefit to having 2 spaces... ?
Click to expand...
What I mean is that if I have a LOT of things opened at once, and they're spread out over 3-4 desktops, I just view all my desktops at once, and quickly go to the desktop I want. Actually, I'll use Spaces, then Exposé to view all apps and documents, in all my desktops. Easy to set up if you have Exposé set up as a hot-corner.

When you use Spaces and view all your desktops simultaneously, the size of each desktop is the same whether you are using 2 desktops, or 4 of them. If you use 6 or 9 desktops, they each appear smaller on-screen, so I don't bother. I can't see which PDF I have open when each desktop appears too small.
 
Abstract said:
What I mean is that if I have a LOT of things opened at once, and they're spread out over 3-4 desktops, I just view all my desktops at once, and quickly go to the desktop I want. Actually, I'll use Spaces, then Exposé to view all apps and documents, in all my desktops. Easy to set up if you have Exposé set up as a hot-corner.

When you use Spaces and view all your desktops simultaneously, the size of each desktop is the same whether you are using 2 desktops, or 4 of them. If you use 6 or 9 desktops, they each appear smaller on-screen, so I don't bother. I can't see which PDF I have open when each desktop appears too small.
Click to expand...

Ok, you're not talking about Spaces then, you're talking about the Pager (display of virtual desktops with preview of what is on them).

2 Desktops can be very useful to someone who has a workflow that requires it, no matter how big the Pager displays them. I don't even use it at all in my workflow, yet work with 4 Spaces. I find that options+arrows is much quicker to cycle through desktops than bringing up the Pager (Really, Apple's Pager app sucks).

Linux DMs/WMs mostly solved that issue by having small Pager widgets that are always displayed and clickable with a preview option (either full preview, app icon preview or plain preview of squares representing windows without indicating what they are) showing all windows.
 
baryon said:
If you didn't have Spaces, you would have to either minimize, hide, or Exposé your windows all the time.
Click to expand...
No you don't. And what's wrong with Expose?

With Spaces you don't have to worry about all that, and you can isolate tasks without the need to swap between windows all the time.
Click to expand...
Two sides of the same coin. You're still switching windows; but with Spaces you're switching "desktops" as well. One method is not inherently better than the other as you imply.
 
I tried to use spaces but just cant, its just annoying having to switch.

Whereas i couldn't live without dual monitor since you can actually see whats open. But the majority of the time where im stuck with 1 screen, i just 4 finger gesture and pick what application i want, which renders spaces pointless

And the op isnt moaning about it, he is just asking if people like it or not, so dont rage
 
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I am in the same boat where it feels like it adds complexity rather than removes it.

I get more disoriented by the whole screen sliding around and trying to remember which space an app is in. Sure I could just click the dock icon for the app, but then why use spaces at all?
Anyway no hate and if it suits some people all the better. I guess it's useful if you're annoyed by seeing overlapping app windows :p
 
It depends on what I am doing and what machine I am working on. On the MBP and if I am doing work, then I like to have spaces on and certain apps in certain screens. It makes life easier.

If I am working on a large monitor, then I switch spaces off.
 
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