Users With Multiple Monitors: Lion's Full-Screen Apps Are Not For You

[janstett]

It's called "Full Screen" and not "Full Screens" for a reason. Maybe down the line Apple will support the latter, but I find it amusing that people are complaining that full screen mode only supports one screen.

This is just another in a long list of ways in which OSX breaks down when you use multiple monitors.

I've been very vocal about the dock and more importantly the system menu being locked on one display. Let's say you have three monitors arranged left to right horizontally. It's ridiculous that if I have an app running on monitor 3 I have to jump the mouse back to monitor 1 to use the system menu, and back to monitor 3 to use the app. That's a whole lot of mousing

 

[TurnerMan]

I can see the full-screen function supporting dual displays - taking "tools" or configuration options of design programs like iMovie, FCP, Aperture and Logic and displaying them on the "secondary" display while the main content is on the "primary". Unfortunately, with this user base, when you add support for another monitor people cry for 3- and 4-monitor support. You can't please everyone - that statement holds true.

 

[brisbaneguy29]

This is just another in a long list of ways in which OSX breaks down when you use multiple monitors.

I've been very vocal about the dock and more importantly the system menu being locked on one display. Let's say you have three monitors arranged left to right horizontally. It's ridiculous that if I have an app running on monitor 3 I have to jump the mouse back to monitor 1 to use the system menu, and back to monitor 3 to use the app. That's a whole lot of mousing

I know your pain, but this may help.

http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=79

Puts a second menu bar on your second monitor. Not sure if it works across 3 though.

 

[ranReloaded]

Bleh, multiple screens are ugly.

I love me just one, massive screen.

Two screens is great for developing console games. Shame every SDK/IDE is kinda Windows-only. It's been a while, but I bet they're still using XP

 

[janstett]

Maybe I do not fully understand your problem, but you know you can move the screens physically right? and if this is not possible you can change the screen layouts in system prefs/Displays/arrangement as you can see from screenshot (white bar equals menu and dock screen) you can also move the menu bar and drag it to the middle monitor thus moving everything into the middle.

Yes, you are not understanding the problem.

Let's say you have multiple monitors -- but to illustrate the problem let's say 3 arranged horizontally such as someone with an ATI Eyefinity capable card would be apt to do

Let's say monitor 1 is primary (yes I know I'd probably make #2 the primary but bear with me). The dock and system menu are on monitor 1.

Now let's say I am running Microsoft Word or Photoshop or whatever you would like on monitor 3.

EVERY time I need to use the menu I need to mouse over to monitor 1 and then back to monitor 3 for the app. Same if there is something on the dock jumping up and down like a Jack Russel Terrier or I need the trash. I know someone will say "keyboard shortcuts" but not every menu function has a keyboard shortcut.

Of course, at least as far as the menu goes, this stems from Apple's age old disembodiment of the menu from the application window. Other GUIs like Windows don't have this problem because the application menu stays with the application, it isn't disembodied and locked to the top of display 1. Of course Apple violates its own design with toolbars because toolbars are just shortcuts to menu items too but they stay with the application window not the system menu. IMO this all goes back to needing a system menu and the original Mac had only 512x342 so they probably decided they would save screen real estate by forcing every menu to appear at the top only and it would switch context, as opposed to a system menu and an app menu both taking up space.

I have "only" 2 monitors, one a 30" cinema display and the other a 24". I generally put long term "back burner" stuff on #2, but anytime I try to actually use an app on #2 it is frustrating. Especially when you go from the lower right corner of #2 to the upper left corner of #1 for the menu.

I know your pain, but this may help.

http://blog.boastr.net/?page_id=79

Puts a second menu bar on your second monitor. Not sure if it works across 3 though.

Very cool, I'll give it a spin. Thx

 

[csiguy]

my humble opinion

I use the XFX TriStand in the photo above in my studio, nice unit.

I typically run multi-displays as |1|2| or |1|2|3| landscape, which is also a requirement for Eyefinity gaming (you can't go 312 when gaming).
On my software development system I run the displays as |3|1|2| landscape since I place the editor on 1 (maximized). The Lion 'dim/fabric' of the other monitors would never do in a situation like this, so I can say that it would be a feature I would probably not like. My Mac has a 24"+22" and I don't have any real compaints with how it all works now. Unfortunately I don't have Lion so I can't say without using it.

On my 3D/Max system with a 30" U3011 and 22", the 30" is imho almost too big since the menu is a long mouse-length away and requires a lot of hand movement to get there.

To the few who nay-say, I run all of my major apps maximized (full screen), plus once you go multi-monitor you'll never go back.

 

[hansrb]

Numbers or Pages across 2 monitors

As a Mac user since 1981, I also don't like Mac OS to be going backwards and deleting good features.
Listen to your customers or risk losing them.

For large spreadsheets I like to work across 2 monitors. With Lion, that facility was somewhat curtailed. I found a way.

Drag the open Numbers widow (or Pages window or any other window, I dare say) so that it straddles the two displays and then stretch it by the bottom right hand corner. Then drag the window to where you want it.
But don't auto-resize it with the top left green '+' button or you'll have to do it again.

Not ideal but works fine.

 

[foiden]

I still think most of the bugs seem to be around the full screen functionality. Over time, hopefully, those kinks will be worked out. I know how to avoid most of the bugs, but I'm kind of reporting them as they come, anyway. Lion kind of makes me power-use the full screen apps, so I tend to find patterns that I guess didn't make it to testing; but they are understandable patterns I can see lots of folks doing.

 

[madmaxmedia]

Lion's Full Screen mode is obviously intended for laptop users with dinky little screens...but it's simply stupid to dim the other screens. just because it was intended for laptops (without an external screen) doesn't mean it should be useless for everyone else.

This basically sums up the original post. It's not about bugs or expanding a full screen app across multiple monitors or any additional features, its just taking away the dimming action.

It would also be nice if you could run an app fullscreen on something other than the main monitor, but that would be a feature add that might eventually come.