Filed under: OS, Software, Productivity, Leopard
Why wait for Leopard? Get a virtual desktop manager now
Mac publications are all taking a new eye to the apps and features that Leopard is 'killing,' and Dan's post about the 7 apps that Leopard kills inspired me to check out the current market of virtual desktop managers for Mac OS X. Since I'm on a MacBook Pro however, the only one I could really put through the ringer was VirtueDesktops, which is fine since it seems like a feature-packed and very capable virtual desktop manager. Hence, another post in an ongoing theme here at TUAW: Why wait for Leopard?While we didn't get a full shakedown of Spaces at WWDC 2006, VirtueDesktops seems to offer the same functionality, with quite a few tricks up its sleeve. Barb blogged VirtueDesktops in February 2005, but it has certainly come a ways since then. It still offers a basic set of four desktops with the ability to add more, and it's very keyboard shortcut-friendly. Here's a quick rundown of the rest of this highly customizable desktop manger:
- Eye candy - a wide variety of the standard Aqua transitions are available for switching between desktops. This alone is worth showing off to friends, even if you aren't into the multiple desktop thing
- AppleScript-able
- Extensible with plugins
- Works with Growl to let you know which desktop you've switched to (you can name them for better organization and recognition)
- Sticky windows and apps - you can bind apps to one desktop or another, or specify them to show on all desktops. This is handy, for example, if Mail.app is 'stuck' to a 'Communication' desktop. Clicking on Mail.app in the dock will automatically switch to the required desktop
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jan said 12:46PM on 8-10-2006
Nitpick: It's not only donationware, it is also OpenSource[tm]
Jan
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Lars Ivar said 2:17PM on 8-10-2006
But it makes my two year old iBook extremely slow and was deleted after one night!
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Steven Fisher said 3:01PM on 8-10-2006
VirtueDesktops is a cool idea, but the implementation is pretty flawed. Transitions are difficult to manage, for instance -- the time you set seems to include whatever time needs VirtueDesktops needs to prepare, which sometimes is no time at all and sometimes is several seconds. So depending, you either get no transition or a very slow one (if you try to set the delay long enough to always see a transition). Further, it's fairly unstable -- and when it crashes, all your applications that were off the main screen are inaccessible until you restart it. And sometimes it just refuses to restart.
I'm sure it'll improve, but I'm not sure a stable version will beat Leopard out the door.
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Stuart said 4:19PM on 8-10-2006
Just had a play with it, and, I'm not sure. Perhaps I'm probably too set in my ways.
It looks cool flipping between, but it seems a lot easier just to command tab between stuff and just use Hide instead.
Perhaps Spaces won't be that interesting afterall?
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Chris Bell said 4:25PM on 8-10-2006
I've been using Virtues for a couple of months now, switching constantly between Windows in Parallels and OS X and Virtues has not crashed a single time.
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Catt said 4:36PM on 8-10-2006
Yeah blogged about this app few days ago. See
http://deepink.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/a-short-review-3-of-the-7-apps-on-leopards-hit-list/
I'm still using it and finding it somewhat useful. I wish it was available for Windows though which is primarily where I can benefit from Virtual desktops. I have altdesk installed on this environment but VirtueDesk has a much nicer interface.
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Ryan said 7:59PM on 8-10-2006
It's been great so far, and fun to play with, if a little dizzying after way-too-rapidly switching through desktops. I had some problems at first, but putting and re-entering the program fixed it all, and I've not got a really great way to keep my windows sorted. Who needs Leopard?
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josh b said 10:21PM on 8-10-2006
I think this app is great, in fact, it has helped me so much, I wrote about it.
http://jamminman.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/spaces-in-leopard-virtuedesktops-in-tiger/
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maique said 2:09AM on 8-11-2006
i've been using desktop manager for quite some time and it works great.
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maique said 2:10AM on 8-11-2006
sorry, forgot the link...
http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/12682
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estuardo said 9:09AM on 8-11-2006
The best virtual universal desktop application right now is Youcontrol Desktops. It costs money, but they have a 15 day demo to try. I've used Virtue Desktops, but the Youcontrol application is easier to configure and easier to manage.
http://yousoftware.com/desktops
It is the best, but it cost $30 USD, I think it is not a cheap price
GB
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George said 11:25AM on 8-11-2006
It woud be great, however there is a slight issue with using a dual monitor set up.
I have an Apple 23" HD Cinema Display plugged into my 15" G4 PowerBook.
The 23" screen is Primary display (the menu bar is on this screen) and obviously the Secondary screen is the PowerBooks screen.
But when I switch to another 'screen' only the secondary screen rotates (I am using the 'Cube' transition), the bezel graphic appears in the Primary screen.
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Nik Fletcher said 1:54PM on 8-11-2006
VirtueDesktops is great. Hopefully Apple can bring something new to the concept or Virtual Desktops in Leopard.
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Todd said 3:40PM on 8-11-2006
I tried Virtue Desktops after reading this here, and I can say the answer to 'why wait for leopard' is 'because it will work right there'. I had quite a few random flippings of screens, motion sensor switching doesn't work. It looks nice, but I'd like something that works better, without the kitchen sink settings.
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sjk said 7:46PM on 8-11-2006
Todd,
Try disabling the transition animations. And the motion sensor switching seems even more frivolous although I've never tried it since I don't have a MacBook (Pro).
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Marcelo said 10:56AM on 8-12-2006
I second the vote on Desktop Manager. It may not be open source, but it's worked GREAT on my PB Al for over a year, survived the transition to Tiger, and is flawless transitioning across desktops. Maybe the transitions aren't fancy shmancy, but it gets the job done.
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Leland Scott said 11:23AM on 8-15-2006
Virtue Desktops is cool. So is Desktop Manager and YouControl Desktops (although the latter crumpled my Mac into an unhappy kernel the last time I tried it). However, none of these is ready for prime time. I've been trying to work with Virtue Desktops again for a week or two, but it's just not there. Unfortunately, the developer doesn't have the resources to improve it fast enough. It's beautiful, but I'm really hoping Spaces is a stable virtual desktops implementation, cause none of these others are. I also have heard good reports about YouControl's software, but I'm just not willing to pay for this functionality. Heck, it's free in other Unix distros, so why pay in Mac OS X?
Last week I was trying to get Virtue to maintain a simple desktop with a white background that I could use for screen-movie making. First big problem? Every desktop inherits your main desktop's files--meaning all of its icons, drives, etc. Fortunately, I have DeskShade, but it shouldn't have been necessary.
Next, I used Virtue's Cmd-Ctrl O shortcut to try to put a particular Firefox window onto the screen movie desktop. I frustrated myself endlessly, finally quitting Virtue and restarting it. I did have better luck then, but in general Virtue's controls for specifying apps and windows in particular desktops simply doesn't work.
There are numerous other quirks, but basically Virtue is an interesting experiment that will either leave you longing for the real thing or will convince you that virtual desktops are a bad idea. In either case, you're probably better off waiting for Leopard. :-)
Cheers,
Leland
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Gabriel Incertis said 1:39PM on 11-01-2006
I cannot create a new desktop (I have the 3 default Desktops but cannot add a new one). I cannot configurate the applications inspector properly. Sometimes some options are not avaliable...
A least the light and move sensors work ok and the cube transition is really cool... but that's only eye candy.
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