Windows 10: How are you supposed to use extra desktops?

Hi

Well I was just messing with it, I opened 4 full screen applications, and using the Task View button I can switch between them almost instantly without closing or minimizing any of them.

The truth is that task view is one more step then just clicking on the icon on the task bar for the application you want to show on the screen. That's the way I've done it for years.

I just don't see what having them on different desktops would do, that is different then having multiple windows open.

I'll check out Youtube.

Mike

 

That's the way I see it unless I'm completely missing something.

 

The power is not when you have multiple full screen windows. But when you have multiple windows open per screen.

Let's say you have 5 windows open on screen 1, and 6 windows open on screen 2, and 3 windows on screen 3. You can switch between them and they're all in the same positions as you left them. You don't have to minimize the other 8 windows to get to the same state.

Windows has no way to say "I just want to see these 5 windows". That's what virtual desktops are for.

 

I look at it that it gives you the ability to group specific apps together for a certain task. For instance, you could have a desktop with the specific applications open and running that you would use to write a book. Maybe Word, a Thesaurus and browser open for research. Another desktop could have a different set of applications running that are required to do video editing or coding. You could switch between the desktops and have everything open and running for you to do a specific task. This would be much more useful if you could save the state of each virtual desktop so you could boot up with everything the way you want it.

 

Maybe that's why I'll never make use of it. Even when debugging, reading forums, checking emails and doing Photoshop work I manage it all on one desktop and I may have eight or nine windows open at once. I don't think I'll ever have enough windows open at the same time to warrant more than one active desktop.

 

Agreed.
It also means that you can group all of the open windows by the type of activity (I believe you pointed this out earlier).

For example I have "VituaWin + KvasdoPager" installed in W7.

When I was studying Networking I needed to have open:

• Multiple VMs
• Multiple help files (PDFs and Word documents)
• Browser
• Exercise instructions & exercise answer sheet (Word documents)

The VMs and browser were difficult to use unless they were full screen (thus requiring an several entire desktops).
The help files could be displayed on another desktop.
The instructions and answer sheet on yet another desktop.

However "VituaWin + KvasdoPager" works like Linux Distro multiple workspaces.
You are able to see little pictures representing the various programs on all of the virtual desktops.
You can also just Drag & Drop the little pictures to other desktops, without leaving the desktop you are currently using.



At TAFE, they didn't have virtual desktops and the monitors were 1280x1024 making it horribly difficult to complete exercises in a reasonable time.
At home, with my virtual desktop set up, it was much easier to complete the work.

The W10TP implementation isn't as useful as it could be. *Sad
Based on the current version, I guess no one at MS uses or understands virtual desktops.

They are very useful when you have multiple windows of the same program open.
If you have a dozen Word docs open, they all look the same in the thumbnail preview and on the Taskbar (also the titles are truncated).
"Combined Icons" are horrible (just like the Mac OS X Launcher or Ubuntu Unity Bar) because you can't tell what is open or how many instance there are.

Strangely enough, my friend who uses Arch Linux was only complaining about "Combined Icons", after he got home from work yesterday.
As the de facto IT guy (because he uses Linux) he has to help his boss who uses a W7 laptop (with everything set to default).

GNOME has something like what you have described.
GNOME calls it "Activities".
Using Workspaces in Gnome 3.x

 

Once again, it's likely that this is not feature complete. Microsoft uses Agile software methodology, which develops software in "sprints" based on features... as things go along they add more features. This is likely just the first set of functionality.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to discover that all the developers at MS have/use multiple monitors.

Presumably there will be changes, otherwise there isn't much point in asking for feedback. *Smile

 

What does multiple monitors have to do with anything? I have 3 on my desktop (a 27" and 2 23"'s) and virtual desktops are still useful.

 

Absolutely -- people tend to confuse the whole issue.

It would be nice though if one could enable specific virtual desktops to be routed to selected monitors -- I'm sure someone will come up with that type of software.

Cheers
jimbo

 

If MS developers are using multiple monitors, then like some people in this thread, they won't be able to grasp the value of virtual desktops (i.e. they've never needed virtual desktops, because they have multiple monitors).

It's just like Office 2003 was obviously developed on widescreen monitors because of the layout they chose for the main window and information panes.
They failed to take into account that most people were using 4:3 monitors.

Make them develop on a 15" laptop (or 13" Ultrabook) and they might get the idea.

I'm using 4 virtual desktops right now in W7.
Do you know why?
I don't have 4 monitors.

 

The developers experiences are of little importance to the design of Windows user interface. In major software projects like Windows the developers do not design the user interface and probably have little influence over it. This is done by designers and guided by user feedback, research, and usability testing. Many of the designers are well acquainted with Linux and the Mac which have long had multiple desktops. Microsoft receives vast numbers of feature requests, some well thought out and described.

Edit: I think the best explanation for why multiple desktops is in it's present state is simply that Windows 10 is not yet finished.

 

It looks like MS are trying to do something similar to GNOME's Activities & KDE's Workspaces.

 

Back in the 90s there were "Employee Written" virtual desktop utilities for OS/2 2.x. I used one of them for a while. It seemed to work fine until I had 3 or 4 screens going with a few windows in each. Then it would crash and all the windows would be clumped together. *Smile

To be fair though I may have had a machine a bit short on (edit) resources. New machines in stores often only had 4 or 8 MB back in those days. I had (edit) 12 MB at least when I tried the desktops out. But the CPU was probably only a 386. *Smile

Edit: But to answer the OP's question I grouped programs I used together on a desktop with windows sized so I didn't have to maximize or resize them. Just click an editor to paste from browser etc.. With everything on one desktop it can be funky to make sure every window can be clicked. I'm not that big on Alt Tab.