Finally discovered multiple desktops - bye bye 15" MBP

[Abaganov]

I must have been living on the moon or something but until few days ago I never used the multiple desktop Mac OS offered, and boy this is a game changer for me.

I been debating a lot recently on the so famous 13 vs 15 question that is so popular around this forum

Like many I Love the portability and form factor of the 13" but felt I am more productive on the 15" as I can get more things done due to having more real estate

well this recent discovery of using multiple desktops on my work flow is now really making the 13" MacBook Pro to be the perfect machine for me as I can have basically 1-5 13" screens all at once and simply swipe between them.

I'm a happy camper right now.

 

[maflynn]

as I can have basically 1-5 13" screens all at once and simply swipe between them.

For me its the screen real estate (or lack there of) in apps like Lightroom, and photoshop.

I'm a happy camper right now.

Nice, one size doesn't fit all, and if you're happy with the choice, that's all that matters

 

[Howard2k]

I use a 13" right now and agree - multiple desktops is a fantastic feature and great way to make use of smaller screen real estate.

 

[anthdci]

It's one of the main reasons I prefer my personal macbook to my windows work laptop. 4 finger swipe between desktops works so nicely verses the windows implementation

edit, typing that has made me investigate it a bit more and it turns out windows 10 works near identically if a bit more clunky

 

[uecker87]

It's one of the main reasons I prefer my personal macbook to my windows work laptop. 4 finger swipe between desktops works so nicely verses the windows implementation

edit, typing that has made me investigate it a bit more and it turns out windows 10 works near identically if a bit more clunky

I was just going to say that Windows is pretty similar, ha. I hated using a Windows laptop until I realized that I can set up anything I want on a separate desktop, and have as many as I want. That was/is one of the things I used the most with MacOS.

I will admit that I like the way MacOS treats it with full screen apps (where it sets it up as swipe-able right away without me having to manually put it into a "new desktop" like in Windows).

 

[dwig]

It's one of the main reasons I prefer my personal macbook to my windows work laptop. 4 finger swipe between desktops works so nicely verses the windows implementation

edit, typing that has made me investigate it a bit more and it turns out windows 10 works near identically if a bit more clunky

I'm a long, long time Windows user so the keyboard shortcut ALT-Tab is my main navigation method, one that comes naturally to me after decades of habit.

BTW, the "4 finger swipe" isn't necessary as there's also the keyboard shortcut CTRL-Arrow (left or right) to step through the Desktops. Again, long Windows experience with the keyboard shortcuts and the lack of a trackpad connected to my iMac at work has made the keyboard shortcut on my Mac a matter of habit as well. My only grump with Win is that the shortcut combo is a left hand shortcut and being left-handed I have to move off the mouse to get to the Tab key.

 

[anthdci]

I will admit that I like the way MacOS treats it with full screen apps (where it sets it up as swipe-able right away without me having to manually put it into a "new desktop" like in Windows).

This is what I mean by clunky.

I'm a long, long time Windows user so the keyboard shortcut ALT-Tab is my main navigation method, one that comes naturally to me after decades of habit.

I do a lot of matched betting and have a pc i remote into with all the betting sites open. I also have the exchange, oddsmatcher and calculator open on my main desktop, so 4 finger swiping between the desktops is much quicker than alt-tab through so many windows. Speed is usually very important if odds are changing fast.

 

[Saturn1217]

I am addicted to multiple desktops! Easily one of my favorite features of macOS. That being said in my experience (with the work I do) multiple desktops doesn't really solve the issue of needing more screen space. But that's mostly because I like being able to see 3 colums comfortably in a code editor from time to time. I'm still leaning towards the 15".

 

[Mac-key]

I ALWAYS ALWAYS use multiple desktops - usually 2-3, maybe at a time... it's the only way for me to keep things organized. I do video editing all day everyday... so in one desktop I've got only adobe premiere open and in the other desktop is my web browsing and emails... then in my 3rd desktop I'll keep my word/pages documents open. Then I'll open a 4th desktop when I crank up my virtual machine. However as mentioned above, it doesn't solve the problem some may have of limited screen real estate... but it does help. I'm on a 15' MBP btw

 

[dwig]

...I do a lot of matched betting and have a pc i remote into with all the betting sites open. I also have the exchange, oddsmatcher and calculator open on my main desktop, so 4 finger swiping between the desktops is much quicker than alt-tab through so many windows. Speed is usually very important if odds are changing fast.

Quite true in some cases, but the 4 finger swipe doesn't work on iMacs or PowerMacs unless you happen to have an accessory trackpad.

 

[SDColorado]

My only grump with Win is that the shortcut combo is a left hand shortcut and being left-handed I have to move off the mouse to get to the Tab key.

Depending on which mouse you have, you may be able to bind a programmable button to the task.

 

[jerryk]

Multiple desktops work, until they don't. I prefer to see multiple things on screens all at once. So I primary use big desktop monitors and have a multiple of things open at once

 

[blackreplica]

Multiple desktops on a smaller screen are great only until you dont have enough working space running even a single full screen app. In my case its with photo and video editing. Then you will really wish you had the bigger screen

 

[dannyar]

Yea I don't see how this makes the 13" a better option. Still are limited to the size of what you can have on the screen and just forces you to have to swipe between multiple desktops to achieve it. Also apps like photoshop and final cut or premier still will look smaller and be harder to work in regardless.