On Jan 26, 2008 8:34 AM, Leo Mauler webgiant@yahoo.com wrote:
I was a bit embarrassed during one "educate the Windows user about Linux" situation when the guy I was talking to thought that the multiple virtual desktops were kinda cool (and this was well before Compiz), but he didn't really see the need for multiple virtual desktops in higher-end hardware. While there's some organizational benefit to having more than one desktop on one machine, I couldn't come up with a reason why an average user would gain much from more than one desktop, let alone three or more.
What are the advantages of virtual desktops, and why even have more than two virtual desktops? Linux can do several virtual desktops, and Compiz can create a dodecahedron of virtual desktops, but if there's no benefit other than the "my computer is cooler than yours" ego boost, there's not much point to it.
I think 2 or 3 desktops makes sense in certain situations. Say you're running something that really 'wants' all the available screen space (like Photoshop)... or, on the other side, if you have 10 instances of BitTorrent going on, it's nice to give them their own desktop.
But generally, I don't think they really enhance productivity. I always disable them, personally.