On Friday, Aug 29, 2003, at 23:10 Asia/Jerusalem, Tzafrir Cohen wrote:
OS-X does not have virtual desktops.
When you have virtual desktops you don't urgently need all of those workarounds just to clear some space.
I never use multiple desktops and I don't understand why anyone would need to. I do use multiple *monitors*, because sometimes it's very convenient to be able to see several windows at the same time without constantly switching.
The issue is that window overlap is not solved by multiple desktops because in any case the second window is hidden. The key to work with multiple windows belonging to multiple applications is to be able to quickly switch from one to the other - preferably with one click.
Now, the default for KDE on Mandrake is to have all the windows belonging to the same application share one space on the panel. That's horrible. It means that you first have to pick application (click #1), then to pick which window you want (click #2). Besides, there is scant information on which entry in the panel is which. This is really a nightmare. I changed the default to have a separate entry for each window in the panel, and I know which one to click based on *memory*. Yes, I have to remember that the gvim window containing my PHP source is the fourth one on the left in the panel, whereas the gvim window with the nethack readme is the third one on the top row. That's bad user interface. And multiple desktops would not change that.
Now, for MacOS, the so-called "eye candy" that was described here was described a bit misleadingly. We are talking about minimized windows. Those minimize down to the dock. Then, when you travel over the minimized windows in the dock, you can get the image a little bigger so it shows you a preview of the window, so to speak.
Why is this good? Because it makes it easier to choose which of the minimized windows is actually the one you want, based on a visual cue. It contains both the application control and the content within, so if I have one window with PHP code, and one window with a readme, they'd be distinquishable by the indentation even in "preview" form. You can easily tell which window you want to choose by its looks. Much, much better!
Those guys at Apple found a way both to save screen realestate and to leave us with enough visual feedback to be able to pick the window we want. I think they know better than you what's good for the user. This has nothing to do with their being bloody capitalists who only want to earn the $70 on their OS (and the $3000 on their desktop computer), and you being a radical young free-software communist. It has to do with the fact that they did some thinking - something that neither MS nor the Open Source community seem to be willing or able to do.
Herouth
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