Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

handel30

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2011
64
0
Miami, Florida
It seems to me that the solution should be to just make Mission Control an optional and additional feature. Leave the old spaces and expose intact. As for grid view in spaces, this should be no problem. Spaces are still numbered in grid view and so the linear translation in Mission Control would just follow that.

It's the fact that Apple is forcing this on us that is mind boggling. I know a lot of people rant about Spaces, but I'm more astonished with how bad Mission Control messed up all-window expose. The entire point of pressing the expose button as it stands is to "un-layer" and tile your windows. Now, however, if you have two windows of the same application open (in addition to others) pressing the Mission Control button will actually force layer the windows of the same app together! Mission Control actually does the exact opposite of the solution expose provided and yet it's a "replacement" for expose! Madness...

Hello. Lion still has expose with the grid layout. You just have to enable it. I too was frustrated with the layering of windows in mission control, but now that I enabled expose, I love mission control. To see your windows in a grid, you swipe down; to see a row of linear spaces across the top of your window and your open app windows stacked/layered on the desktop, swipe up. I love Lion.
 

handel30

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2011
64
0
Miami, Florida
I only used Snow Leopard for a few days before switching to Lion. I love mission control and expose in Lion, but I'm wondering why people here think that spaces and expose were better in SL? Once I enabled expose in Lion, I regained the grid view of all my open app windows in a given space. I just have to swipe down. When I swipe up, I enter mission control. I love the fact that I can assign apps to different spaces. I also love that I can customize each space with a different desktop (that is, with different wallpaper). To get to a space, I just have to swipe left and right through all my windows and spaces until I reach the space I want. I can also enter mission control and click on the space/app that I want. This is wonderful. Why was it so much better in SL? I have to say that I also love the fact that I can four finger swipe to move through apps and three finger swipe to go from page to page within an app. I think the zoom feature is even better in Lion than it was in SL. I doubt I'd ever go back, but I still want to know what made spaces and expose so much better in SL. Thanks in advance for your answers or comments.
 
Last edited:

paulsalter

macrumors 68000
Aug 10, 2008
1,622
0
UK
I only used Snow Leopard for a few days before switching to Lion. I love mission control and expose in Lion, but I'm wondering why people here are claiming that spaces and expose was better in SL? Once I enabled expose in Lion, I regained the grid view of all my open windows. I just have to swipe down. When I swipe up, I enter mission control. I love the fact that I can assign apps to different spaces. I also love that I can customize each space with a different desktop (that is, with different wallpaper). To get to a space, I just have to swipe left and right through them until I reach the space I want. Or I can enter mission control and click on the space/app that I want. This is wonderful. How was it so much better in SL? I have to say that I also love the fact that I can four finger swipe to move through apps and three finger swipe to go from page to page. The zoom feature is even better in Lion than it was in SL, too. I would never go back. But I do want to know what made spaces and expose so much better in SL. Thanks in advance for your comments.

here are some good examples of it in SL

http://thesmallwave.wordpress.com/2...os-x-snow-leopard-the-dock-expose-and-spaces/

If you look at the Expose and Spaces together, gives an overview of everything running, in lion you can only see all the apps for current space

clicking on a space is just as easy, personally I preferred them in a grid instead of a straight line, made them bigger and easier to see

how do I view minimised apps in Lion, I cannot find a way, Expose in SL showed them in a smaller size along the bottom of the expose screen
 

handel30

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2011
64
0
Miami, Florida
Thanks for the link. Now I understand why so many people miss the ability to run spaces and expose at the same time. Not only does it expose every space, you also get every open window within each space in that great grid layout that really lets you SEE everything easily.

But I also like the way Lion does it. Across the top of the mission control page, I see every single space lined up horizontally. I also see all my open full screen windows. If you use full screen, then this is all you need. Functionally, it's the same as Snow Leopard's combined spaces and expose.

It's only when Safari windows are open but not in full screen that mission control only shows me the first window and hides the others, but this is true only along the top where the minimized icon windows are. On the desktop (that is, in center area of mission control as opposed to the grey border), I see all the windows stacked one atop the other, but I can bring each window forward by clicking on it. I guess this is where there is a very slight loss from Snow Leopard to Lion. However, I find it fairly easy to manipulate and spread out the pile of windows in mission control (although it could be easier).

If you don't like the way mission control stacks open safari windows, then all you have to do is use full screen mode and the stacking totally disappears. You see all full screen windows across the top along with all your spaces. And of course you also get the grid layout in Lion when you use expose, but you can only do it for one app at a time.

I didn't have time to get attached to Snow Leopard, so I'm welcoming Lion with open arms.
 
Last edited:

MBHockey

macrumors 601
Oct 4, 2003
4,050
297
Connecticut
Hello. Lion still has expose with the grid layout. You just have to enable it. I too was frustrated with the layering of windows in mission control, but now that I enabled expose, I love mission control. To see your windows in a grid, you swipe down; to see a row of linear spaces across the top of your window and your open app windows stacked/layered on the desktop, swipe up. I love Lion.

You're confusing "application expose" with spaces grid layout. not the same thing.
 

BornToMac

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2008
622
0
Hello. Lion still has expose with the grid layout. You just have to enable it. I too was frustrated with the layering of windows in mission control, but now that I enabled expose, I love mission control. To see your windows in a grid, you swipe down; to see a row of linear spaces across the top of your window and your open app windows stacked/layered on the desktop, swipe up. I love Lion.

The problem I have with this is when you swipe down to get expose, it hides all of the windows of the same application behind each other. That means I can find firefox, but can't get an expose view of each of those windows without going back to the main space I was in and then swiping (or keyboard shortcut)again to get application view. You can't combine the two features like you could with Spaces and expose.
 

handel30

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2011
64
0
Miami, Florida
You're confusing "application expose" with spaces grid layout. not the same thing.

Yup, I see that now. So -- Lion retains "application expose," but gets rid of "spaces grid layout." Spaces grid layout is similar to application expose except that it offers a higher, more general view. It shows all open spaces along with all the open windows within each of the spaces. In short, spaces grid layout simply shows you all open windows, period. But if I can see all my spaces and also all my open (full screen) windows in Lion, then what has really been lost with mission control -- that is, as long as I remain in full screen? I still get to see all open windows in mission control. The only thing that Lion can't totally expose (fully reveal to view) are non-full screen windows within apps, which get piled on top of each other (although you can move them around and shuffle them). But to solve that problem all you need do is switch to full screen windows. Then you can see all open windows in the entire system just as in SL, you just get them lined up near the top of the screen rather than in the grid arrangement.
 

pcmxa

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2011
170
8
ABQ
Yup, I see that now. So -- Lion retains "application expose," but gets rid of "spaces grid layout." Spaces grid layout is similar to application expose except that it offers a higher, more general view. It shows all open spaces along with all the open windows within each of the spaces. In short, spaces grid layout simply shows you all open windows, period. But if I can see all my spaces and also all my open (full screen) windows in Lion, then what has really been lost with mission control -- that is, as long as I remain in full screen? I still get to see all open windows in mission control. The only thing that Lion can't totally expose (fully reveal to view) are non-full screen windows within apps, which get piled on top of each other (although you can move them around and shuffle them). But to solve that problem all you need do is switch to full screen windows. Then you can see all open windows in the entire system just as in SL, you just get them lined up near the top of the screen rather than in the grid arrangement.

What it is missing is a way for me to easily find a particular file I am working on among several, say, in Photoshop. There are many programs where the full screen model doesn't work, particularly where you work across a number of files simultaneously. What SL used to deal with this was "All Windows" Expose, which allowed you to see every window of every application, including minimized windows, in a single view with one click access to all of them. There is no equivalent for this in Lion and Mission Control.
 

colourfastt

macrumors 65816
Apr 7, 2009
1,047
964
Thanks for the link. Now I understand why so many people miss the ability to run spaces and expose at the same time. Not only does it expose every space, you also get every open window within each space in that great grid layout that really lets you SEE everything easily.

But I also like the way Lion does it. Across the top of the mission control page, I see every single space lined up horizontally. I also see all my open full screen windows. If you use full screen, then this is all you need. Functionally, it's the same as Snow Leopard's combined spaces and expose.

It's only when Safari windows are open but not in full screen that mission control only shows me the first window and hides the others, but this is true only along the top where the minimized icon windows are. On the desktop (that is, in center area of mission control as opposed to the grey border), I see all the windows stacked one atop the other, but I can bring each window forward by clicking on it. I guess this is where there is a very slight loss from Snow Leopard to Lion. However, I find it fairly easy to manipulate and spread out the pile of windows in mission control (although it could be easier).

If you don't like the way mission control stacks open safari windows, then all you have to do is use full screen mode and the stacking totally disappears. You see all full screen windows across the top along with all your spaces. And of course you also get the grid layout in Lion when you use expose, but you can only do it for one app at a time.

I didn't have time to get attached to Snow Leopard, so I'm welcoming Lion with open arms.

Why in bloody **** would I use a full-screen anything with a 27" monitor??
 

Frozzie

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2011
172
0
It's becoming obvious that MC is scrambling Expose and Spaces all into one window, and not as efficient. More aesthetically pleasing but I don't like it.

Can't stop thinking that Lion is a step backwards unlike any other OSX releases. :cool:
 

WSR

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2011
249
2
Can't stop thinking that Lion is a step backwards unlike any other OSX releases. :cool:

I agree. With the downgrading of Spaces and Expose, multiple-monitors virtually useless in Full-Screen mode, and the loss of "Save As...", I think it is definitely a downgrade.
 

MartiNZ

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2008
1,222
125
Auckland, New Zealand
Wow. Just wow.

You're just going to have to take people's word for it. MC does not equal Old Spaces or Expose'.

Not even close.

Indeed. One might even go so far as to say the old E = MC^2 ;).

I never got into using spaces in SL. I tried to do so with fullscreen apps in Lion but after trying that for a week I found that my old workflows were better, and reverted to just one space/desktop, and yet still MC isn't as good, as I can't get rid of the desktops bar at the top, AND it doesn't show minimised windows - in fact they are annoyingly hard to get to now with minimise to icon, so I've gone back to even older habits of Hiding apps, with the command line for dimming hidden dock icons, of course.

Edit: agree with just above and its quoted. iCal and Address Book looks are of course also downgrades, and autosave/versions are downgrades in user control.... At this rate Launchpad starts looking like an upgrade :eek:.
 

Steve's Barber

macrumors 6502a
Jul 5, 2011
773
1
Indeed. One might even go so far as to say the old E = MC^2 ;).

I never got into using spaces in SL.
Ditto this. Now I have to though because full screen apps get their own Space for some reason. (And people... don't tell me it's because there is no desktop in a full screen app... who cares, it's just another window to me).

Looking at Mission Control is a garbled mess. I have to scan top to bottom just to find anything. Give me Expose back... using my entire screen.

The first 3rd party app that comes out fixing this MC blunder I'm all over it.
 

professorjay

macrumors member
May 13, 2007
84
0
What else can I say that hasn't already been said?

Well maybe one thing. I actually like that they group similar apps together. I find it more useful than a scatter shot of all apps in a space. I can narrow down which window I'm looking for quicker. But I wish you could click or hover over the group app icon and it would expand the stack.

But I can also see why others would want everything visible (no stacks of windows) for reasons stated previously in this thread.
 

mrblack927

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 19, 2008
841
34
I think the most disheartening thing of all to read is that the good people behind hyperspaces are abandoning the project and "welcoming the new mission control in Lion". I didn't expect Apple to hear our cries but I was really hoping hyperspaces would develop into a standalone 3rd party replacement. Then maybe if enough people bought that and installed it over MC just to undo Apple's wretched mess, maybe they would get the hint and realize MC really was a bad idea.
 

Chase R

macrumors 65816
May 8, 2008
1,279
81
PDX
Lion makes having an external monitor essentially useless. You can't even full screen Quicktime X to it!... it just hops over to a new space on the Mac's screen.
 

Steve's Barber

macrumors 6502a
Jul 5, 2011
773
1
I think the most disheartening thing of all to read is that the good people behind hyperspaces are abandoning the project and "welcoming the new mission control in Lion".
Timing is everything. if any 3rd Party is going to come to the rescue with a Spaces/Expose' replacement they had better do it quick. Soon this will all fall on deaf ears. :(
 

handel30

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2011
64
0
Miami, Florida
Because I purchased my first apple notebook (since my 1999 iBook) only a couple of weeks before Lion came out, I never really had time to get attached to Snow Leopard. I like Mission Control and make use of it all the time. But I would like to see: the ability to more greatly magnify the space thumbnails across the top of the MC screen. After several spaces, they get too small to really see what app is on each of them. Just as you can adjust dock magnification, I'd like to see the same for the MC thumbnails. I would also like to see the ability to move the thumbnails around, although I've been able to make great use of the "automatically rearrange spaces based on most recent use" option. And of course it would be icing on the cake if Apple brought back the ability to see ALL your open windows in a grid pattern.
 

kemo

macrumors 6502a
Oct 29, 2008
821
201
Timing is everything. if any 3rd Party is going to come to the rescue with a Spaces/Expose' replacement they had better do it quick. Soon this will all fall on deaf ears. :(

The only reason why I didnt downgraded to Snow Leopard is that Im really busy at work atm, however once Ill have some free time, Im back on SL, since the Expose/Spaces change isnt the only 'problem' Im having with Lion :S

also https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1215716/ is my problem and since Im working as a developer and mostly spending my time in Textmate its driving me nuts when I get this error and get logged out and I have not saved changes.


I would even pay for such an app to get back the SL expose/Spaces like feature!

For me is Lion like Vista for windows.. I really like apples products for many reasons but I have to say that - Apple IMHO you screwed this OS release...
 

flagstone

macrumors newbie
Aug 30, 2011
1
0
I found this thread when wondering what the hell happened to spaces after I "upgraded" to Lion. What a POS. Spaces is one big part of why I started using OSX. It's a huge part of my workflow. Thankfully, for the most part, I end up mostly using only iterm which has the option of not using the Lion-style full-screen mode. And my keyboard shortcuts as before can be used.

It would be very helpful if the desktops could be assigned shortcuts and fullscreen apps could actually be assigned to a particular desktop.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.