Are files on the desktop in more danger than elsewhere?

[dogbone]

I remember once when I was running OS9, I can't remember exactly what happened but there was some kind of a crash and the upshot was that I lost a bunch of folders that were on the desktop. Ever since I've been a bit wary of files on the desktop.

Running OSX is there really any difference between a file on he desktop and one elsewhere on he HD. Is there any reason why I should not leave a folder full of big files on the desktop?

 

[HiRez]

I remember once when I was running OS9, I can't remember exactly what happened but there was some kind of a crash and the upshot was that I lost a bunch of folders that were on the desktop. Ever since I've been a bit wary of files on the desktop.

Running OSX is there really any difference between a file on he desktop and one elsewhere on he HD. Is there any reason why I should not leave a folder full of big files on the desktop?

As far as I know it's just another folder (whose contents happen to appear on your screen all the time), however I recommend only storing aliases on your desktop, not actual files or folders. Documents belong in your Documents folder unless they're of a type of one of the specialized folders (Music, etc.). You don't have to do it that way, of course, but it's a convention and the safest thing is to play by the rules.

 

[Blue Velvet]

At work, my entire 'Work in Progress' folder sits on my desktop but not much else. Never any probs — the Documents folder is a pain to use because installed apps keep dumping crap in there.

IMHO, the dock is handier for aliai because it's easier to access than having to use Expose or open another finder window.

 

[Lacero]

I would say it can get dangerous. You could get lost in a sea of files, your productivity goes to Hell, and you get fired from your job because of it.

Otherwise, no.

Here's to the Crazy Ones ​

 

[dogbone]

OK thanks looks like it's safe then. Personally I'm very anal about having a spartan desktop.


But I'm going to clean up a friends powerbook. He has his entire desktop filled with hundreds of little icons. Dozens of useless dmg files and so forth. I get dizzy just looking at it. I couldn't talk him into organising his HD properly so I'm going to try to convince him to set up a few desktop folders with special icons to organise the crap.

However he has suffered two disasters recently when someone 'helped' him to move to tiger and in the process lost all his emails from five years.

And another disaster happened soon after when I selected his whole desktop and dropped it all into a new folder just to get the crap out of the way. Unfortunately I included his tiny HD icon which meant that instead of dropping all the files in it left everything on the desktop and just put aliases with the same name into the folder.

Then when I wasn't looking he dragged all the aliases back to the desktop, (don't ask me why) Then he got a warning "do you want to replace the files". He asked me what does this mean and before I could answer he just clicked OK.

 

[mad jew]

I can't stand to have anything but the basics on my desktop (mounted disks and drives). Nevertheless, apart from the risk of dragging a folder to the Trash when trying to eject an iPod, I can't see any risks involved. Plus, I'd have to be pretty silly to actually empty the trash afterwards.

 

[eXan]

I like to have a clean desktop. I currently have my HD, one folder and one file on it and I think of the way to remove them


My mom's laptop (in the sig) has a FULL screen of useless pictures/files, there's no free spot on it! Ughhh

 

[dogbone]

I like to have a clean desktop. I currently have my HD, one folder and one file on it and I think of the way to remove them


My mom's laptop (in the sig) has a FULL screen of useless pictures/files, there's no free spot on it! Ughhh

Well what's stopping you from removing your HD icon? Why do you need it. If you have a folder on the desktop isn't that good enough to get to the HD?

 

[HiRez]

It's interested that most computer users (by that I mean non power users) seems to want to store EVERYTHING on the Desktop. They don't want to, and in many cases are absolutely unwilling to, deal with folder hierarchies and organizing their data. This leads to what we have all witness so many times: the Desktop as a dumping grounds of all a users documents, downloads, and applications, which quickly gets unwieldy. My point is that instead of trying to force users to conform to the folder hierachy model, which they seem completely unwilling to do, maybe it's time to think of some new ways to let non power users organize their data in a way more appealing to them, yet safer and cleaner.