Leopard Spaces?! I still don't get it

[mashinhead]

I am glad I am not the only one, I just really dont get the need for this one. It is cool and I understand it is a feature in Linux, but I just dont see me really needing it.

i agree its the same as hiding all other windows, now if you could customize the dock for each space i'm on board. I could have on dock for general communications apps, on for graphics, one for web design, one for video, music, photography, with all the apps for each specific task in their respective docks.

 

[72930]

Today was the first time I ever used Spaces...definitely the best implementation of virtual desktops I've ever seen by a long way. Still not gonna use it.

I love how you can Exposé while in the Spaces view

 

[mashinhead]

Spaces can go way beyond 2x2 btw, I dont know the exact limit but I think you can have up to 16 or 32 desktops (yes, overkill ). Not to mention that this is a life saver on the more low res laptops, I had a macbook for a while and virtuedesktops kept me from going insane

well in that case can you switch space by selecting the app you want to use by hitting cmd + tab? because that would make sense. I can literally create a space for every app and use cmd tab to select the app and always have a clutter free window and very and intuitive easy switching.

 

[flopticalcube]

well in that case can you switch space by selecting the app you want to use by hitting cmd + tab? because that would make sense. I can literally create a space for every app and use cmd tab to select the app and always have a clutter free window and very and intuitive easy switching.

Yes.

 

[iVoid]

I initially wasn't that interested in Spaces, but yesterday I decided to try it out. It actually does help to keep the clutter down. Since I have dual displays, it even helps to find out what's where quickly.

I've setup 8 spaces currently.

I wish we could name them "Finder", "Web", "Mail/Cal", "Downloads", "Video", "Porn".

Also, I'd like to tell it to always have my second monitor duplicated between all spaces. I usually use it for video playback (it's my 60" Sony TV). I've set my video players to be in all spaces, but that leaves controllers and my EyeTV program list following me everywhere.

 

[Wayfarer]

Spaces has already helped me keep organized.

AND IT GETS EVEN SEXIER WITH APPLICATION BINDINGS!!!!!!!1111one

 

[Stephenbw]

Open a new Safari window. Hit F8, unless you changed the key from its default.
HTH

When I hit F8 nothing happens.
In Spaces preferences it shows F8 as the default key and the other Spaces shortcut keys appear to work correctly.

 

[Burnsey]

When the feature was first announced, I didn't get it. After reading an article on Appleinsider about Spaces, I still don't get it. It's so similar to expose. Sure it helps with the clutter when having multiple windows open, but in order to get to another app in another space, you move around much like expose, Space have navigational shortcuts.

Yet, I don't understand the utility of this feature.

For example, assume that in one space I'm working on my school project/assignment, in another I'm using a web browser to check out news, events, youtube, Macrumors.com, etc. In yet another I'm doing work for my employer. so far so good. I start in space 1 working for school. Getting tired. Want to check out Macrumors. I hit F8 or use any of the keyboard shortcuts, and bam, I'm in space 2. I read something interesting that I can use for my work project. Bam! I'm in space 3 using any of the shortcuts.

Without spaces, to this I could have everything mentioned above open, i.e multiple browser windows, text app, excel etc. I'm in Word wanting to check out macrumors. Click an expose shortcut, see macrumors, point the mouse and Bam! I'm on macrumors.com. My conclusion: What do I need spaces for?

Please, someone explain the usefulness of Spaces to me in plain English.

Spaces comes in handy if you frequently use apps like photoshop or microsoft Word, where toolbars that aren't part of the menu bar clutter your screen space. With spaces you can assign a space to each of such apps (very handy for heavy photoshop users who also have illustrator etc... open).

Also spaces comes in handy when you have apps that are similar but different. For example, photoshop and images in preview/illustrator/indesign, or preview and acrobat. Currently in Tiger when I have several photoshop windows open (with images), I might also have several preview images open as well (with the same images), and with expose it's hard to tell which ones are the photoshop, and which ones are the previews, and this can get frustrating as the number of images goes up. Spaces gives you a separate space for each of the similar apps, so there would be no confusion.

This feature is also exceptionally useful for laptop users (especially macbook users) who run out of screen space fast.

 

[madmaxmedia]

Spaces - Workspaces

I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, but already love it. If you're just using 1 space for Safari, 1 for Word, etc. then I agree the utility seems questionable.

But here it works really well is if you have multiple projects going on, and each project involves multiple applications. You can lay out your desktop with the important windows you need at the forefront for each project, and switch among different projects without messing up any of your window setups.

For example, right now I have one space with a CSS editor and text editor (I'm just starting to dabble with CSS), I have another space with a couple of PDF references and tutorials. This is all technically 1 project, but it's much easier for me to switch back and forth between the 2 spaces, then trying to click on the relevant PDF window, then go to the text editor, no wait I meant to see the preview window of my CSS changes, etc. What's also great is having the relevant Finder windows for your project stay in the space, so you're not alt-` to death to bring up a particular Finder window.

I have another space with Safari and Mail. It's much easier to keep those in a separate space than having them in the background. I could hide the apps, but it just all ends up creating clutter and hiding background windows when I switch back and forth.

I could have used virtual desktops before Leopard, but didn't 'get it' until now. The Spaces UI is very well done and fits seamlessly alongside Expose, so I have no desire to explore alternatives.

Finally, on another space I have WriteRoom in fullscreen for jotting down notes, ideas, etc.

So most of my 4 spaces has 2 or more windows, and the layout is preserved perfectly in each. I could use Expose to switch between apps and windows, but that's a lot of clutter on 1 MacBook screen, and a lot of shrinking to fit all those windows on 1 Expose screen.

 

[jellomizer]

For People who run a lot of application it is useful. Taken from Other Unix/Linux systems which users typically run many apps at the same time. It is very useful.

People like to compartionalize their work if they are doing multible things at the same time. For example I may have one space for Email and Web Browsing. An other one may have an Excel Sheet up which I am working on. The third may have Photshop. Its value is where you need to hide and show groups of applications at the same time. Spaces or virtual screens are the easist interface for this. Vs making a global Minimize Maximize Button.

 

[chris200x9]

hot corners + dashboard + show desktop + exposè + spaces = happy me


thanx to spaces now I use every corner

 

[pjarvi]

The usefulness for me, is when I have to have multiple windows open for 1 particular project. If I have other programs running, I would have to click around to dig through the multiple programs to bring up all of the windows needed for the project. By putting all of the windows for 1 project in a separate space, I no longer have to dig around multiple windows, reducing the number of clicks it takes to be productive.

 

[dtk]

I have certain applications assigned to certain spaces, which is the obvious thing to do. This separates my work (design) from my web browsing and IM from my music and from video.

If I ever find space one is getting cluttered I use hot corners to bring up expose, then hot corners again to bring up spaces, then drag some windows to a new space.

I rarely use the keyboard shortcut to change space, since I have applications assigned to certain spaces I only need to click on them to change the current space. Otherwise I use hot corners.

 

[jamisonbaines]

it's great for running windows full screen in vmware

i have mine set with F1 or click the scroll wheel.
my setup is:

browser & email | itunes
----------------------------------------
msn & ichat | windows

 

[alphaod]

I mean I don't always use it, but say I do, I can have one space with my media open, videos, iTunes, etc. Another one I have my XCode, Eclipse, documentation opened up, another one I have my 3 browsers opened, my RSS reader open, the another one with my pr0n when I get bored; that way I don't have one screen with everything, get's a bit distracting especially with the stuff in the last space.

 

[dgdosen]

I keep several VMs running, and it's nice to use Spaces to move between them and other windows of stuff. It really becomes more useful when you can switch spaces more easily.

I like to program a button on a mouse (I've got a five button mouse) that calls up spaces, and I can quickly move from one to the other.

 

[brand]

Spaces doesn't allow you to say "These keys trigger this desktop" you can only get to a desktop with your choice of CMD/Opt/Control + Left/Right/Up/Down arrow OR use the num pad to get to a specific desktop.

It doesn't have to be the number pad it can also be the 1 through 0 keys on the keyboard.

 

[DJAznSensation]

if i have my macbook pro connected to an external monitor, can i have one virtual desktop on one screen and another on the external? and if i have lets say 4 spaces going can i have them switch off each other?

**i'm a leopard user who doesn't use spaces... try it here and there tho

 

[GoKyu]

I couldn't live without Spaces...I use one space for Firefox / IM apps, then another for mp3/video, another for Garageband when I use that, and a separate space for each of Lightroom and Photoshop.

I set my scroll wheel button to hit F8 to pull me back out to view all of my spaces, then I click into the one I want. I hardly ever use the keyboard shortcuts anymore.

 

[mckyvlle]

I can't live without Spaces either. I use four Spaces:
- background apps: iTunes, Thunderbird and Azureus
- pen pushing: Word, Excel
- web browsing
- virtual machine

I mostly use Ctrl+<arrow keys> to move around the Spaces. Quick and efficient.

 

[jonlong]

I have seen the Ubuntu implementation and it is not as slick. Other distros may vary.

You can't have an exposé-style overview of all your desktops at once.

You can move windows between desktops, but it is not drag and drop like Leopard.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

My experience is with Ubuntu and Compiz Fusion, but you have far more flexibility there than what is offered in OS-X. You can select any number of desktops. Not sure what the maximum is, but to use that many would be too cumbersome.

You can view the desktops in an expose style and drag and drop windows from one desktop to another. Also, by dragging a window quickly to the side of the screen, you can push it to the adjacent desktop. There are also 2D and 3D ways of viewing the desktops, some are useful and others are just eye-candy.

Ubuntu currently has the best desktop management of any OS, but also offers more settings than most people want to deal with. I think OS-X is on it's way to offering a good balance of desktop management without having too many customizable settings.

 

[krye]

Spaces is great and I use it all the time. I think it's faster to keep applications up on the desktop in different spaces and toggle between spaces that it is to have to constantly maximize and minimize applications. Maybe you guys just aren't busy enough to see the advantage in using Spaces? It really brings multi-tasking to a whole new level.