Since the WWDC keynote I have had a reborn fascination with virtual desktops, or as Apple is now calling them “Spaces.” This is in no way a new concept, Linux has been doing this for quite some time, and there are many programs out there for both Windows and OS X that does the same thing, albeit with not as sexy of an interface as Apple has made.
I occasionally get a bug up my ass to try these utilities, and with virtual desktops I wanted to find a program that gave me the closest user experience to what Apple may but out. My thought process for integrating this now is so that when Leopard comes out I am already accustomed to using multiple desktops, and will only have a better experience. (It took me a really long time to integrate expose´ into my workflow).
I have tried Virtue Desktops, Desktop Manager, and You Control: Desktops. Out of all of these I have been having some frustrations. Virtue was very nice, but I could not get some of the keyboard controls that I wanted, and it was more graphical and mouse friendly than keyboard friendly. This turned me off, but this is not to say that you cannot do everything via keyboard, just that it was not designed with that as top priority.
Desktop Manager, was again very good and had a cool little pop-up window at the bottom corner for switching. The problem with this program was that I had a hard time getting applications to stay binded to one desktop or another. Which was very frustrating. It was also shareware, and I was not going to pay for it, if it wouldn’t work the way I wanted it to. I must say that it did seem to have good keyboard support.
After testing these I Googled around to find what other options their maybe, before I give up. That is when I cam across You Control: Desktops. I had used software from You Software in the past and always had a good experience with their stuff. I am using the trial now and really like it. It is fast, smooth, and keyboard friendly. It also keeps applications bound to desktops even when you close all of their windows, or quit the program, a necessary feature for me. It includes a very cool Menubar view that shows the windows as they sit on each desktop, and from there you can slide windows to other desktops, very Apple like. I think that this is the best and closest that you can get to what Spaces will be, now if only some one would make that cool expose´feature that spaces had.
While I have not yet decided if You Control Desktops is worth the $30 for the software, or if something like Virtue will suffice. One thing is for sure, I really enjoy having multiple desktops for things. If you have not tried it, I suggest that you download one of the programs that I have mentioned and give it a try. If nothing else the transitions between different desktops are sure to impress co-workers who stare at your screen all day.
Thank you for sharing the names of virtual desktops and for your review of them. I googled for an option over 6 months ago but could not easily find one on the first page so I decided to wait for OS X 10.5. Just downloaded Virtue and I’m about to give it a try.
Thanks again
I, too, have tried all three virtual desktop apps: VirtueDesktop, Desktop Manager, and You Control: Desktop. By far, YCD stands out as the better of the three; the ability to move windows from desktop to desktop—whether dragging with the mouse or by keystroke—is fantastic and something neither VD nor DM offers.
I’d like to point out that, contrary to your observation, VirtueDesktop is very keystroke-friendly. Unless I read your post wrongly, there is quite a multitude of actions you can set to be triggered by keystroke or mouse click; take a closer look at the “Triggers” section in VD’s Preferences pane.