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Virtual Desktops for Mac OS X

Posted by pudge on from the if-it-were-really-useful-apple-would-include-it-in-the-os dept.

TexTex writes "Riley Lynch has released Space.dock, which brings multiple desktops to Mac OS X. He's provided the code and binaries through SourceForce.net. It runs pretty well for being a 0.7 release and sure beats hiding all your applications and just opening the one you'd like." This is a cool little program. I usually question how much I really need virtual desktops, but I never fail to use them when I have them available.

4 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Clean little app by T.Hobbes · · Score: 3, Informative

    It doesn't require any installation other than dragging it into the dock. From what I can tell, it simply hides/reveals windows, sorting active windows into interchangeable 'spaces'. You can access windows in another space by clicking on the program icon in the dock - that will bring the window forward in your current space and vacate that window from its former space. All in all a small, elegant, responsive program. Only 77kb.

  2. How new is this? by dhovis · · Score: 4, Informative
    All the dates are 2001. According to everything I can find, this was released last year, and last updated for MacOS X 10.0 (retail).

    I've heard it still works with the most recent OSX builds, but it only looks new because the site hasn't been updated for a year.

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    The internet is the greatest source of biased information in the history of mankind.

  3. It's kinda inadequate by jkujawa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It hasn't been updated in a year.

    When last I tried it, about a year ago, it didn't hide windows, but applications. Which meant that you couldn't have, say, terminal windows in more than one space. Which makes it completely useless for my purposes.

    The underlying problem is that Apple hasn't released the API for the window manager, and no amount of dumping symbols from binaries, tracing, etc, seems to produce anything of value. I wish Apple would open up this window manager API, so that we can get a useful virtual desktop manager.

  4. 0.8 due shortly by TexTex · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes the site and the program have some shelf-life. Riley's stated that version 0.8 will released "any day now" and has been in testing for the past few weeks. It should include a global hotkey which may make swapping between these desktops amazingly easy.

    --
    -Barkeep, a draft of your most hazardous brew, for the world is slowly stepping into focus, and I don't like what I see.