Virtual Desktops: Yes or No?

As I mentioned recently, I've been using virtual desktops for a while and consider them a great addition to the Mac OS X experience. I started with Desktop Manager and recently have been using Virtue. Apple plans to include their own implementation of virtual desktops in Leopard which they have dubbed Spaces and it looks good. My use of virtual desktops came about from a desire to have a bit more desktop space on my primary Mac, a 12" PowerBook. Virtual desktops allow for a sense of more space and the ability to quickly jump to a whole new screen. As someone with 9-12 applications open at all times I appreciate the ability to have a desktop devoted to specific purposes and applications. A side effect of doing things this way is that I've developed a habit of keeping each application maximized so that I can focus on that app when I'm in that desktop and get the most out of the 12" screen. Seems to make sense.

But maybe not. See, now that I'm keeping my windows maximized I can get the exact same effect of the desktop switch by using the OS X Command-Tab application switcher or the dock. If I just need quick access to the desktop I have Expose set to show the desktop via a keyboard shortcut using the "fn" key or the bottom left of my screen, either way requires a trip to the bottom left, keyboard or screen. I got to thinking about this and as an experiment I've quit Virtue for a few days. A side benefit is that the memory normally used by Virtue is now freed up for other apps and on a PowerBook with 768 MB of ram every little bit counts.

It's been nearly five days without Virtue and I think this change may stick. The only real difference in switching with Command-Tab or the dock is that I do not see the nifty transition that virtual desktop apps provide when switching. The end result is the same and it happens just as quickly. A key to making this work, as with virtual desktops, is to not use the dock for minimizing windows. Another key to making this work is the tabbed window interface in applications such as Safari, Vienna and Smultron. I do not use multiple windows for each application and that's been the case for a while. The only exception to this rule is iChat, a bit of an oddball which requires 2 windows, one for my buddy list and one for message window which is tabbed via Chax.

Still, I can think of situations in which the virtual desktop solution would make sense. Should I need to work more often from my iMac with it's larger 17" screen I would use Virtue because certain tasks such as web development would benefit by having a Safari screen alongside of Smultron window with open html files being edited. FileMaker related work also often benefits from having multiple windows of the same database open side by side.

For now though, as long as I'm working on my small screened PowerBook I'll work without virtual desktops and I'll be just as productive.

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