Desktop Cleanup

The desktop on my home computer greatly amuses me:

I love the wallpaper. The screenshot shows a dual-monitor desktop with the taskbar on the right monitor. Windows games all tend to display on the left screen. Putting the taskbar on the right makes it easier to open and use other applications on the second monitor while games display on the first.

Things that I have learned over time:

• I’ve found that minimizing and maximizing windows while dealing with multiple applications leads to wasted time and fustration. Virtual desktops and either high resolutions or dual monitors should be considered a must for any serious computer user. The whole window management scheme seems broken somehow and I have not seen anything that seems like a fix.
• I find that I develop a mental map of where application windows are and become irritated when something deviates from that map. I also tend to use virtual desktops as a task oriented area. Each virtual desktop tends to deal with one task and so when I’m forced to change which task I’m focused on I change virtual desktops. The windows associated with the previous task are left preserved on the other virtual desktop and the new task is on a different desktop. In the course of a work day you may often need to switch back and forth between multiple tasks and I find using virtual desktops for this makes sense.
• Using your desktop as your entry point into applications (aka application shortcuts) or the computer’s file system (aka dumping files onto the desktop) encourages the whole minimize/maximize brain damage. How do you get to the desktop when you have several applications open? You either start minimizing or end up smacking the “show desktop” which is just a “hide everything now!”.
• Every operating system provides a start menu and taskbar or similar functionality. You can launch any frequently used application or open any part of your file system within one or two clicks. They are always visible and do not require you to unbury your desktop to gain access.

Hint for Windows Users: Virtual desktop functionality is available for Windows in many forms. The software that ships as part of the Nvidia graphics card driver set includes such functionality and it is quite usable.