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How do you maximize apple taskbar to 2 monitors?
- Thread starter SDAVE
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how is it going the way of windows if a copy of the menu bar is on each window. If anything it improves the speed some one can work. Yeah I see the point for basic commands but when I go to the menu bars a lot of the time I am looking for a command I do not use often enough to know the short cut. Normally it some odd ball thing I need for that document or piece of work.
The only reason you took it literally is because it really badly hurt your entire point of it is stupid. I can see the argument on it being stupid having it on every window. But I fail to see the argument of having a copy of it across each monitor. Something I commonly do when I use multiple monitors is I put the none important windows but ones I like to be able to see at at glance at all times. Normally for me it is AIM, installs, another file I am pulling information from for what I am currently working on ect. Now it is my windows box that runs multiple monitors but I would find it annoying if I had to go back to the primary to access any of the menu items. because it is so much easier to be able to go to the menu and still be able to see the active app.
Problem is a lot of people who say it is such a bad idea are more than likely the ones who never use multiple monitor on the a regular bases so fail to see how freaken annoying it is to have to travel across multiple monitor.
Like you said if you are using more than one monitor you want to be efficient and hate when things waste you time and having to travel back across the monitors to see the menu is trouble some.
Now try to agrue the point with it being used as an example and not as it being taken literally because some how I think your entire point completely fails.
It is not windows like to just use that little space to make working on multiple monitors better. I personally am a fan of them being on all windows but that is me and that is a personal preference.
I do not see what so hard about giving a the option to have the menu duplicated across multiple monitors.
I guess that's one way to handle it - interesting. Just makes it a tad slower to get to the apps own contextual menus.
I agree that it wouldn't be a big deal to have the 'duplicate' option. Just not very useful IMO. As someone who does and has worked on multiple monitors for years, I don't see the value in wasting that space by duplicating the menu. 95% of what is buried in those menus I get to with key commands. For the times I go to the menu, it may be three feet away, but for the mouse that I actually have to move, it's about an inch and a half.
And if it was on every window like Windows... well then I think I'd just stab myself in the eye.
I'd imagine that would suck on Windows the way mouse acceleration is set up. Not the same on a Mac.
I have no idea what you mean by "The only reason you took it literally is because it really badly hurt your entire point of it is stupid. " I guess since you're resorting to the use of "stupid" in your argument means we're probably at the end of the discussion.
If you prefer Windows, use Windows. This isn't Windows. The [now becoming age-old] Mac vs. Windows arguments are tiresome. If you now use a Mac, learn it and enjoy the Mac experience - rather than trying to morph it into Windows.
btw: I've used multiple monitors for years, doing s/w engineering for Windows. Perhaps it's improved, but the multi-monitor support in Windows was a kludge (albeit, we were in Win NT4 and Win 2k. It wasn't because this was a long time ago, the short answer reason having to do with drivers).
on part on the mac experience. I have never like the menu on top since day one and the mac UI was the first GUI interface I ever used and I did not like the design of it.
I just do not see why it would be so "windows" like to have the duplicate menus. I also noted that you didn't bother trying to go against my reasoning on why I think that it should be there.
To me multi monitors with out having the menu on all of them is just a a way of poor designed. It is not messing with the OS and making it like windows. Hell it still retains the mac like set up with the menu bar always at the top of the screen in a relatively useless area of the screen any how. It makes it more user friendly to see those menus and any app you have over there low and be hold you can now pull down the menu and still see the application in the same area. I would not see people up in arms if they allowed this. It would let people choose instead of the stand what ever Apple thinks is best is the only way to do it but that is aple for you.
I see you complained about multi monitor support but it had to do with drivers which is not an OS problem since the way that it is done I know in XP is a pretty nice system and very user friendly to set up. You can tell the computer where other monitor is relative to your main monitor and it would treat it as such.
SteveG4Cube --
Thanks for posting that -- I was going to suggest that Apple implement the old NeXT way of doing it -- the pop-up contextual menu bar. Looks like we can already have it.
Cool!
The other way NeXT did it was to have the menu bar vertical, placed anywhere on screen that you wanted it. So you could simply drag that app's menu bar to be next to it, on whatever monitor you chose. Each app could have a different position for its own 'menu bar'. Very neat.
Thanks for posting that -- I was going to suggest that Apple implement the old NeXT way of doing it -- the pop-up contextual menu bar. Looks like we can already have it.
Cool!
The other way NeXT did it was to have the menu bar vertical, placed anywhere on screen that you wanted it. So you could simply drag that app's menu bar to be next to it, on whatever monitor you chose. Each app could have a different position for its own 'menu bar'. Very neat.
I wasn't referring to monitor drivers as the cause for it being a kludge. I was referring to the fact we were still developing (and shipping) on Win NT4 and Win 2K - years after they were "done" and XP was out. I said "It [NT4 and 2K] wasn't because it was a long time ago". I was trying to avoid the "oh, that was ancient history" comments and pointing out I hadn't used multiple monitors with XP in that environment.
... and sometimes it totally screws up its settings if you are using a laptop, a docking station and an external monitor.
Guys guys....cool it
I will post a screenshot of what I mean by my original post.
I think Apple needs to fix this, I'm sure I'm not the only one who runs dual monitors....not everyone can "afford" a 30" ACD or a 30" Dell.
Apple's major business is graphics and movies. They need to add an auto hide or "put under other windows". I'm sure I can't make a difference, but if 100 people complain, it might change their mind. I mean if the dock can be hidden, why not the menu bar?
I run AECS3 and spread it on two monitors. Premiere Pro CS3 and other apps (except the Adobe design applications) work like this, as in they cover up the entire screen during use. Photoshop and Illustrator are not like this.
I will post a screenshot of what I mean by my original post.
I think Apple needs to fix this, I'm sure I'm not the only one who runs dual monitors....not everyone can "afford" a 30" ACD or a 30" Dell.
Apple's major business is graphics and movies. They need to add an auto hide or "put under other windows". I'm sure I can't make a difference, but if 100 people complain, it might change their mind. I mean if the dock can be hidden, why not the menu bar?
I run AECS3 and spread it on two monitors. Premiere Pro CS3 and other apps (except the Adobe design applications) work like this, as in they cover up the entire screen during use. Photoshop and Illustrator are not like this.
Guys guys....cool it
I will post a screenshot of what I mean by my original post.
I think Apple needs to fix this, I'm sure I'm not the only one who runs dual monitors....not everyone can "afford" a 30" ACD or a 30" Dell.
Apple's major business is graphics and movies. They need to add an auto hide or "put under other windows". I'm sure I can't make a difference, but if 100 people complain, it might change their mind. I mean if the dock can be hidden, why not the menu bar?
I run AECS3 and spread it on two monitors. Premiere Pro CS3 and other apps (except the Adobe design applications) work like this, as in they cover up the entire screen during use. Photoshop and Illustrator are not like this.
A picture is worth - at least a few words. We'll take a look.
You mentioned Photoshop doesn't have full screen, with out menu bar. But, it definitely does have that mode. Guess, in the morning (much later morning, since it's 2:30am here), I can go hook up my ext. monitor and let it make a liar out of me. I only have PS3 as far as Adobe goes, but I have Aperture and Final Cut, both of which have full screen, no menu bar modes.
"Methinks the laddie protests tooooo much!"
This to vohdoun & Rhodimus,
Bill Gates thinks he discovered the Mouse (actually Al Gore did!) and ever since every shell program sent down the chute by Microsoft have been almost totally bereft of Key Commands. Well Apple Has Them, lots of them, they are consistent and they make sense. Get used to them, this ain't Bill Gates House, or are you going to sit there and scream at the dark rather than lighting a candle? I swear you & RP would have voted to excommunicate Copernicus.It is not a matter of Apple beng "better" or "different" necessarily, IT'S JUST OTHER! I note you have a MacPro, I would assume it was probably a gift, why don't you just use BootCamp and work in the "other sand box" and stop insulting our toys, it's rude. Of course you could always turn on "Mirroring", oh , you might like that!
This is for Sean Dempsey,
You seem interested in learning. The biggest thing to learn is that PC's were developed mainly for business, key commands were "dos commands", code. Macs were developed for people, and yes , they screwed up a few things, but they got the core stuff right. It's one of the reasons that the iPod has 74% of the mp3 player market. Try the following:
Go to Sysetm Preferences (Dock or Apple Menu same thing) Select "Displays" Select "Arrange" Click/Drag to MOVE THE @#*%^$! MENUBAR TO THE LITTLE TINY MONITOR IN THE CENTER While there you can ensure you are set for max res and by all means CALIBRATE (Lets see any Windows based "box" best Apple on that!) Make sure you click the box so that "Displays" shows up in the Menu Bar!
Now close out of all of that and open Safari, drag the Safari window to the monitor you want to use it on, size it thwe way you like it. You may have to play with finder preferences, view options, but if you haven't mucked with those much every time you open Safari it will open in the place and in the size you set.
Hint: Get your self a roll of the lowtac painters tape, run a strip across the bottom of each monitor. Maybe divide into three horiz. How many apps you gonna' have in each screen, write your key strokes on the tape.
On my G4 I have a 19" Samsung LCDsyncmaster on the left and an Apple 19" LCD. Safari always opens on the laft even thought the reight screen is the main. Mail always opend right, addresbook near left, iCal far left.
I love the idea of widgets but rarely use them, same thing for expose. I have 60 items in my dock, thank GHod for decent resolution.
Didn't mean to be long winded or preachy, hope it helped!
This to vohdoun & Rhodimus,
Bill Gates thinks he discovered the Mouse (actually Al Gore did!) and ever since every shell program sent down the chute by Microsoft have been almost totally bereft of Key Commands. Well Apple Has Them, lots of them, they are consistent and they make sense. Get used to them, this ain't Bill Gates House, or are you going to sit there and scream at the dark rather than lighting a candle? I swear you & RP would have voted to excommunicate Copernicus.It is not a matter of Apple beng "better" or "different" necessarily, IT'S JUST OTHER! I note you have a MacPro, I would assume it was probably a gift, why don't you just use BootCamp and work in the "other sand box" and stop insulting our toys, it's rude. Of course you could always turn on "Mirroring", oh , you might like that!
This is for Sean Dempsey,
You seem interested in learning. The biggest thing to learn is that PC's were developed mainly for business, key commands were "dos commands", code. Macs were developed for people, and yes , they screwed up a few things, but they got the core stuff right. It's one of the reasons that the iPod has 74% of the mp3 player market. Try the following:
Go to Sysetm Preferences (Dock or Apple Menu same thing) Select "Displays" Select "Arrange" Click/Drag to MOVE THE @#*%^$! MENUBAR TO THE LITTLE TINY MONITOR IN THE CENTER While there you can ensure you are set for max res and by all means CALIBRATE (Lets see any Windows based "box" best Apple on that!) Make sure you click the box so that "Displays" shows up in the Menu Bar!
Now close out of all of that and open Safari, drag the Safari window to the monitor you want to use it on, size it thwe way you like it. You may have to play with finder preferences, view options, but if you haven't mucked with those much every time you open Safari it will open in the place and in the size you set.
Hint: Get your self a roll of the lowtac painters tape, run a strip across the bottom of each monitor. Maybe divide into three horiz. How many apps you gonna' have in each screen, write your key strokes on the tape.
On my G4 I have a 19" Samsung LCDsyncmaster on the left and an Apple 19" LCD. Safari always opens on the laft even thought the reight screen is the main. Mail always opend right, addresbook near left, iCal far left.
I love the idea of widgets but rarely use them, same thing for expose. I have 60 items in my dock, thank GHod for decent resolution.
Didn't mean to be long winded or preachy, hope it helped!
I just going to say get off the koolaid really think about the points either one of made on WHY we would want it. I wasnt asking for a huge change but a very basic option that skill kept it very apple like. A simple copy of the menu bar across every monitor. Lets see it is still at the top like normal, still looks the same the only difference OH I can access my menu from any monitor and the monitor with my application in it.
And people wonder why apple users are not always respected. It because they do not accept that their are better ways of doing things that what apple says.
Good UI design avoids duplicating functionality (or items) unnecessarily. How would multiple menu bars operate? If you switched to Safari on a three-display system, would all three menu bars become Safari? If so, why? When you access a menu, which one are you accessing? If only one becomes Safari, which one? What if I have Safari windows on two displays? What menus would remain on the other displays? It becomes confusing.
Frankly, for 95% of all operations, you don't need the menus. For those remaining 5%, it's trivial to travel one monitor over (if you have three, it should be in the middle) and grab the function you need.
In the case of the OP's complaint, After Effects can be turned from a single window interface into a multi-window interface by undocking all the panes from the single window. Then you can resize, move about, and adjust things to your heart's contentno empty space will be left by the menu bar because you won't have all your stuff shoved into that single window.
The Windows way is annoying (harder to hit what you want, takes up space), but the best way was an Amiga hacked with MagicMenus. Normally it was similar to the Mac except you used the right button to make the menu bar appear at the top of the screen (the rest of the time it showed some info there instead...memory free, etc.). But with MagicMenus, when you right-clicked, the menus just popped up wherever the mouse pointer happened to be (arranged vertically). Can't beat that for speed, convenience, and taking up 0% of the screen when you don't need them....
--Eric
--Eric
Thats funny, don't you read. I'm not the one bitching here ( no offense, SDAVE
) and I'm well aware of the keyboard commands. The majority of the time thats all I use.Yet you make it sound like I'm the one who's having a hard time to adjust to OS X, considering it's all I've been using for the past few years.
I can't stand the way windows does such things. As I was a PC user before a Mac user, and I prefer the way it does things over windows. Its the same as anything in life, if you don't allow yourself to adjust to changes and find new ways of doing things you'll never get accustomed to it. Or learn the easier ways.
I still don't see the logic in that, I've never had issues with the menubar on the main display and working with apps on the other. I don't see the need for 2 or 3 similar type style of menubars. How would you know which is the main display. If anything it would confuse people, not all but the majority. Either way it still would be confusing.
Then not only that, the way OS X currently works how could two or 3 menubars be active... wouldn't that also get confusing as well? unless transparency got involved, your active would need to be totally visible... it just starts to get all confusing, no?
One thing I really couldn't stand on windows for this same reason, many windows open with the menubar in the app. You could have many windows open and it would get confusing, only way you could tell was with the window on top and the bright Luna blue titlebar was in focus. It becomes very cluttered and messy while trying to multitask.
Perhaps because it doesn't affect me is because I'm uisng keyboard shortcuts... who knows, it all comes down to the users preference. I can't force someone to work like the way I do.
A silly example, it would be like having 3 windows taskbars, or 3 docks or 3 menubars on all displays. What would be the point of multi display(s).
I can see why now with the gap, the window itself seems to be one big giant palette with smaller ones inside. If anything I would undock them if its possible which it looks like it.
In some ways it seems the app isn't very dual display friendly? but I cannot comment on it as I've never used it.
How do the movie industries cope with these? last I saw on many DVD documentaries they were doing their work fine on it. Who knows. Maybe some people have problems with some things than others, I don't know. It all comes down to preferences choices and their needs.
I never been phased nor has it ever other me dealing with menus on every window. To me it has always seem very logical but just like having the direct visual link between app/window to the menu bar. A set up that is not done on the mac having the menu bar not in contact with the window but that is a personal choice. Some people like them at the top I am among the people who has never like that since day one and yes I used the mac GUI first and even then it bother me. But their is no right and wrong way. I just get confusing on the which app is the one on top. As for window never bother me if it was the active one or not because I would just click on it and no matter what it became active.
As for the menu bar across multiple windows being confusing. I just would not see that being an issue if it was an option to do that or not. It is not forcing it on people but to me really opening more doors have yes the same menu across multiple monitors. I would not find it confusing nor do I think others who use multiple monitors would. Now a single monitor users yes it might be confusing and a single monitor user would also not fully understand the logic behind it.
Thats funny, don't you read. I'm not the one bitching here ( no offense, SDAVE
Yet you make it sound like I'm the one who's having a hard time to adjust to OS X, considering it's all I've been using for the past few years.
I still don't see the logic in that, I've never had issues with the menubar on the main display and working with apps on the other. I don't see the need for 2 or 3 similar type style of menubars. How would you know which is the main display. If anything it would confuse people, not all but the majority. Either way it still would be confusing.
Then not only that, the way OS X currently works how could two or 3 menubars be active... wouldn't that also get confusing as well? unless transparency got involved, your active would need to be totally visible... it just starts to get all confusing, no?
One thing I really couldn't stand on windows for this same reason, many windows open with the menubar in the app. You could have many windows open and it would get confusing, only way you could tell was with the window on top and the bright Luna blue titlebar was in focus. It becomes very cluttered and messy while trying to multitask.
Perhaps because it doesn't affect me is because I'm uisng keyboard shortcuts... who knows, it all comes down to the users preference. I can't force someone to work like the way I do.
A silly example, it would be like having 3 windows taskbars, or 3 docks or 3 menubars on all displays. What would be the point of multi display(s).
I can see why now with the gap, the window itself seems to be one big giant palette with smaller ones inside. If anything I would undock them if its possible which it looks like it.
In some ways it seems the app isn't very dual display friendly? but I cannot comment on it as I've never used it.
How do the movie industries cope with these? last I saw on many DVD documentaries they were doing their work fine on it. Who knows. Maybe some people have problems with some things than others, I don't know. It all comes down to preferences choices and their needs.
Yes I can I undock it, but it's not the best way to do it.
No, AECS3 is dual monitor friendly, I've been using AECS3 on dual monitors since version 5.5 under Windows, and it always spread because the taskbar did not block any applications from covering it, unlike the OSX Menu bar. Lame if you ask me
HELLO! Why waste screen real estate? Do your eyeballs not rotate in their sockets? Are your screens in different rooms? How about a (unsightly) strip of maskingtape near where you want your "blankee" menu bar, with keystrokes notated, eventually you will Ta Daa! remember them.
Dude if you like the other platform so damn much, please run, don't walk, back to it and taked another unhappy miscreant with you! Check it out we are tool users not makers! If you were going to learn to fly, they aren't going to suspend the laws of Gravity because you found them inconvenient!
If you truly want change go to the Developers or (God help us!) become one yourself!
Wow relax. He wants a feature that isn't commonly desired, but is still his perogative nonetheless. Get off your high horse just because you think he personally insulted you in some way. He clearly doesn't care about half an inch of screen real estate, and he wants to keep a little bit of unity among his monitors. Personally, I agree with him. It is nice to see the menu bar on both screens, it makes it seem like the screens are actually connected as opposed to just two random desktops.
Don't insult the guy because he has different tastes than you.
Edit: this isn't going anywhere. This thread should be thrown so far into the wasteland, Oscar would see it.
WellExcUUUUUUse ME!
I said it before, I'll say it again, WE are not the agents of change, the DEVELOPERS are, and it is NOT a democracy by any stretch.
Turn on "MIRRORING" in displays, also look under "Universal Access", go to the Genius Bar, there is a workaround for almost every problem except for this "nail on a chalkboard". He hasn't, I note, mentioned what Mac, or OS, or programs he is running
I said it before, I'll say it again, WE are not the agents of change, the DEVELOPERS are, and it is NOT a democracy by any stretch.
Turn on "MIRRORING" in displays, also look under "Universal Access", go to the Genius Bar, there is a workaround for almost every problem except for this "nail on a chalkboard". He hasn't, I note, mentioned what Mac, or OS, or programs he is running
I have a sneaking suspicion you were being a little sarcastic, but I actually didn't know I could drag the menubar back and forth from the display preferences, that actually was very helpful to know.
Can I get the dock now on the bottom of any of the monitors?
so if I understand that correct you do not want to see change and will think the best solution is what ever the developers come up with.... you have a lot ot learn.
Also if you have read my post before I run on a macbook Pro with Tiger on it.... I have said multiple times while I been here I am not a fan of apples desktops because they have ZERO that fit what I need/want and until they fix that problem I will never get one.
Mirroring is not what I want to do when running multiple monitors because that is truly a waste of screen space.
But then again you are on a high horse and do not understand that it is the Consumer that drives the change and need. The developers job is to take what the consumer wants and make the program that does that. But it seems like you believe that apple job to come up with the new ideas and tell the us the users that this is how things should be done and not understand the fact that we should be telling apple here is what we want now it is your job to figure out how to do it.
I stated have the menu being mirrors as a option for the people who wanted and the people who do not want it.
To be fair, windows doesn't do what the few of us want either, I had to get the program Ultramon
http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/tour/smart_taskbar.asp
This allowed me to have independent taskbars on each monior, so whichever monitor a window was on, it showed only in that taskbar.
Something like this for OSX would be amazing. All it would need to be is a menubar that shows the menu for whatever application is in focus on that monitor. You wouldn't even need to replicate the menubar app icons (like chronosync or stuffit or whatever), or the clock, just have it so there's the white bar with the file/edit/view/... for whatever app is in focus. If you value that screen real estate, make it able to autohide.
That's all someone did for Windows, I'm literally surprised no one thought of it for OSX.
That would be just amazing. I'm not a developer of desktop apps though, so I have no idea how one would accoplish that.
http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/tour/smart_taskbar.asp
This allowed me to have independent taskbars on each monior, so whichever monitor a window was on, it showed only in that taskbar.
Something like this for OSX would be amazing. All it would need to be is a menubar that shows the menu for whatever application is in focus on that monitor. You wouldn't even need to replicate the menubar app icons (like chronosync or stuffit or whatever), or the clock, just have it so there's the white bar with the file/edit/view/... for whatever app is in focus. If you value that screen real estate, make it able to autohide.
That's all someone did for Windows, I'm literally surprised no one thought of it for OSX.
That would be just amazing. I'm not a developer of desktop apps though, so I have no idea how one would accoplish that.