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Do you use Spaces? I don't get it... why do I need it?

My friend says the same thing. He doesn't grasp it. He's still stuck on using Alt+Tab (or I think command+tab on mac).

For me I use mine like this:

I have two screens, and usually I'll have XCode or Unity or one of those programs open on one screen, and an ebook of whatever I'm learning on the other.

I don't like to minimize my stuff or have to hide other programs so I use spaces and just switch between them. Another space will have internet, email, iTunes, and Adium. If I want to play around I switch to that space.

If I need to make graphics I have a seperate space for that, and then there is my space that handles long projects that i don't want to get interupted, such as video encoding.

Its more of an organizational thing but it honestly makes me more productive by reducing large amounts of screen clutter. I have mine set up to switch with the command + arrow keys.
 
I use it also. 4 spaces normally but will use 6 when needed. I use it for mail, safari, Ical and whatever else is needed.

I have it set up as a hot corner to activate.

One of the best features of the OS IMO.
 
I typically use 9 spaces but move up to 16 when needed. I have a lot of things running for work mostly. 1 - Email, 2 - Safari, 3 - iTunes, 4 - Terminal / VI, 5 - Pages, 6 - Numbers, 7 - VMWare Fusion, 8 - Finder Windows, 9 - Free (extra Pages or Numbers usually). Even then I still need more because these spaces are often filled with many different files. The work I'm doing right now I am often researching things on the net, reading PDF's, updating Pages and Numbers docs and reading code.

I love it because at a glance (I use middle mouse button to switch to spaces) I can quickly see what each app is doing and switch between them quickly. This is great when I have windows running a simulation that takes hours to run and need to occasionally check on it's status.
 
I guess I'm a minority in the Mac world because I don't use spaces and I find it counter productive. I want to like spaces and I've tried it many times but I keep turning it off. I've also tried virtual desktop setups on Windows, Linux, Unix, etc and never cared for them there as well. What I do in order to keep everything neat and organized is hide any apps that I'm not using at the moment. My workflow involves a combination of hiding windows (cmd-h) and cmd-tabbing to switch applications. For me, that works much better than using spaces, even if I have a lot of apps (both home and work apps) open at once.

When I tried spaces, I found myself constantly moving windows between spaces. For example, I'd have one space for terminal windows but then I'd need to have terminal and safari showing at the same time (so I can follow an online guide or something), so I'd move it. Then I'd find myself wanting to use terminal while being able to look at an email that a coworker just sent me, so I'd move it to my mail/adium/calendar space. Then I'd want to chat with a coworker while I have some other app up, at the same time, so I can discuss what I'm doing with him, so I'd have to move the adium window over, etc etc. Plus, it's just faster for me to use cmd-h/cmd-tab than to switch spaces.
 
splitpea said:
I wish, though, that instead of assigning apps to each space, we could assign which space specific files open in by default.
Click to expand...
I assume you know, but others may not, that once a file is opened, you can invoke Spaces and drag the window to another Space. Thus, it is possible to have one app using multiple Spaces.

redwarrior said:
But by having an app that opens the file by default, then you kinda can do this.
Click to expand...
...Only to the extent that the first file you open will go to the Space designated for its app. But, the next one, which you want in a different Space (from the same app) has to be handled as above. ^
 
I cannot live without Spaces on my Mac.

I've used Tiger briefly on a friends Mac, and I constantly clicked the scroll ball on the Mighty Mouse to bring up Spaces.

I hate having more than one app like Safari, Adium, iTunes, iPhoto on the one screen ... it's too cluttered for me, and even Expose doesn't help because I hate the "feeling" of having all these open windows layered on top of one another.

Spaces is like giving each application you choose it's own little desktop ... that's basically the idea behind it. And I really cannot imagine computing without it.
 
OldCorpse said:
Sorry, to ask such a basic question - but I don't get the point of Spaces. I mean, I've read what Apple says about it, but I just don't see the need in my workflow for Spaces.

Am I missing out on some awesome functionality? Is there some secret trick to make Spaces super useful? I mean, I feel weird not using such a big feature of an OS.

Help me out here... how do you use Spaces? Also, is there a big performance penalty for enabling this functionality (kinda like the way Dashboard sucks the RAM out of your system)?
Click to expand...

Being a grad student, I use spaces all the time for multiple research essays. I don't want windows for one project mixed in with another. Also, it is nice to have a completely separate desktop if I want to play a quick game of Boom or something not school related.
 
I use it a lot. You can also think of it as a window group.

When I'm coding I want my Xcode windows, some documentation windows and a terminal window all open. So that's on one space.

On another space I can keep distractions. Another safari window and Adium, Mail or whatever.

I usually have iTunes opened full sized on a space of it's own.

Since I do a lot of dragging and dropping of compiled files to my iPhone or my Dropbox folder, I have a space open with my source and destination windows side by side so I can drop my files anywhere.

I use Virtual desktops on my Ubuntu PC too... I feel claustrophobic on a Windows computer when I'm stuck on one screen. :p And I can't install any 3rd party app to add them because they are work computers. Oh well.
 
Gregg2 said:
Do you keep your socks, underwear, silverware, pens and pencils all in the same drawer? If so, you probably don't need Spaces.*

*Alternative conclusion: Then you might be a redneck.
(or... Then you might not be smarter than a fifth grader.)

;)
Click to expand...

Or another alternate conclusion: if you type samrtass, derogatory comments, you are a spaces user? ;)
 
splitpea said:
Not really. If I have Word files from 3 different clients, and a space for each client, I want those files in different spaces.
Click to expand...
I understand, and I wish I could help. Wonder if you could set up an Automator task? Of course, I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. :eek:

Also, Office 2008 for the Mac doesn't play well with Spaces, unless it's been disciplined since I removed it from my computer about 6 months ago. So, BTW, anyone know if that issue has been fixed?
 
redwarrior said:
I understand, and I wish I could help. Wonder if you could set up an Automator task? Of course, I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. :eek:

Also, Office 2009 for the Mac doesn't play well with Spaces, unless it's been disciplined since I removed it from my computer about 6 months ago. So, BTW, anyone know if that issue has been fixed?
Click to expand...

That would be Office 2008 for the Mac
And as far as I know, no fix
 
mslide said:
I guess I'm a minority in the Mac world because I don't use spaces and I find it counter productive. I want to like spaces and I've tried it many times but I keep turning it off. I've also tried virtual desktop setups on Windows, Linux, Unix, etc and never cared for them there as well. What I do in order to keep everything neat and organized is hide any apps that I'm not using at the moment. My workflow involves a combination of hiding windows (cmd-h) and cmd-tabbing to switch applications. For me, that works much better than using spaces, even if I have a lot of apps (both home and work apps) open at once.

When I tried spaces, I found myself constantly moving windows between spaces. For example, I'd have one space for terminal windows but then I'd need to have terminal and safari showing at the same time (so I can follow an online guide or something), so I'd move it. Then I'd find myself wanting to use terminal while being able to look at an email that a coworker just sent me, so I'd move it to my mail/adium/calendar space. Then I'd want to chat with a coworker while I have some other app up, at the same time, so I can discuss what I'm doing with him, so I'd have to move the adium window over, etc etc. Plus, it's just faster for me to use cmd-h/cmd-tab than to switch spaces.
Click to expand...

This post reminds me that you can assign apps to all spaces too. I have iTunes and Activity Monitor assigned to every space so they move with me. ;)
 
mac2x said:
This post reminds me that you can assign apps to all spaces too. I have iTunes and Activity Monitor assigned to every space so they move with me. ;)
Click to expand...

Then I'd wind up assigning almost every app to every space and then I'm right back at the spot of not needing spaces :)
 
i never use it.

i have hot corners for all windows and for desktop. all i need to work fast.. well as fast as i call fast lol
 
mac2x said:
This post reminds me that you can assign apps to all spaces too. I have iTunes and Activity Monitor assigned to every space so they move with me. ;)
Click to expand...

Ooh, thanks for that tip. I could see wanting Mail, iTunes, and Adium to travel.

I don't suppose you can assign individual windows to travel too?
 
splitpea said:
Ooh, thanks for that tip. I could see wanting Mail, iTunes, and Adium to travel.

I don't suppose you can assign individual windows to travel too?
Click to expand...

Not that I know of...though I'm on my Leopard machine ATM so I don't know if anything has been changed in Snow Kittie. ;)
 
Incredibly useful feature!

I think that Spaces are one of the most useful features of OS X. I personally use 4 spaces as follows:

1: Internet (Safari and Firefox) and Mail
2: iTunes and MS Office
3: Rip and Encode my DVD Library
4: VM Ware Fusion and Misc.

For me at least as a recent college graduate being able to tilt the scroll wheel on my MX Revolution left or right to switch between the immediate next space left or right between space 1 and 2 allows me to easily copy and paste notes into a PowerPoint or Word Document.
 
I think whether or not Spaces is useful depends on how you use your windows. If you commonly only have 1 to 3 windows open at any one time, then you probably don't need Spaces. If you routinely have multiples of windows open, then you will likely find Spaces useful.

I often will end up with 3 to 5 windows open, all related to one project or task (Pages, 2 Finder windows, and Preview for example). I'll have these all arranged and/or set up to make best use of the desktop.

If I need to start to another task I will go to a different Space and start the task there, leaving the initial arrangement of windows in the first Space. I don't switch Spaces to read email since I can open and then close the email window without changing the arrangement of window below.

I will open several Finder windows and park them in a couple of Spaces if I know I will be using Finder for a couple of tasks (or Preview, etc).

I use 4 Spaces on occasion, but usually just 2 Spaces is adequate for me.
 
I work in a job that requires me to use music editing/recording/charting programs and some light video editing. So...

I use a second monitor and lay my spaces out like this:

Space 1: Email, calendar
Space 2: web browser, itunes
Space 3: music editing/recording/charting programs
Space 4: video editing, photo programs

This setup enables me to keep all my windows open on 2 screens per space. Then I just switch between spaces based on what I'm doing, and barely ever have to switch to a program (or it's open window) by clicking on the icon in the dock or using expose. Makes my workflow a lot faster and smoother.

Hope that was understandable and helps.
 
chrono1081 said:
My friend says the same thing. He doesn't grasp it. He's still stuck on using Alt+Tab (or I think command+tab on mac).

For me I use mine like this:

I have two screens, and usually I'll have XCode or Unity or one of those programs open on one screen, and an ebook of whatever I'm learning on the other.

I don't like to minimize my stuff or have to hide other programs so I use spaces and just switch between them. Another space will have internet, email, iTunes, and Adium. If I want to play around I switch to that space.

If I need to make graphics I have a seperate space for that, and then there is my space that handles long projects that i don't want to get interupted, such as video encoding.

Its more of an organizational thing but it honestly makes me more productive by reducing large amounts of screen clutter. I have mine set up to switch with the command + arrow keys.
Click to expand...

Yeah, what he/she said. Probably clearer than what I said.
 
Guilty confession to make...

When I first got my macbook I too didn't really understand the concept of spaces. I was perfectly happy having everything in one space.

And then I discovered that when I'm at work and I want to procrastinate (which is all the time) it is very convenient to have one space set up with lots of serious articles, excel sheets etc. and another space set up with say...this forum and other things I don't want my boss seeing when he comes over to check on my 'progress'. A quick keyboard shortcut sends me back to work in less than a second :D

So I suppose in this way spaces has made me much less productive...but overall much happier as well :eek:
 
WeegieMac said:
I cannot live without Spaces on my Mac. ...
Spaces is like giving each application you choose it's own little desktop ... that's basically the idea behind it. And I really cannot imagine computing without it.
Click to expand...
...any more. (Surely Leopard was not your first computing experience!)

LOLaMac said:
Or another alternate conclusion: if you type samrtass, derogatory comments, you are a spaces user? ;)
Click to expand...
No sense of humor, eh? ...and that should be "...you might be a Spaces user."
 
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