Virtual Desktops

zikifer

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Mar 20, 2012
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I have to say, my favorite feature so far is virtual desktops. They are absolutely killer on my Surface Pro 3. I have a couple of suggestions, though, and I was wondering if others felt the same.

Ctrl+Win+F4 is Awkward
Creating a virtual desktop is easy: Ctrl+Win+D. Closing one with a Type Cover, however, is awkward, the reason being it does not have dedicated function keys. So I need to contort my left hand to hit Ctrl+Win+F4 (my hands aren't small but they aren't large either) while my right hand holds the Fn key. I imagine other laptops might be in a similar situation. Seeing as how the virtual desktop feature really shines on a laptop / 2-in-1 w/ keyboard I think the shortcut to close a desktop should be easier to hit. I'd even settle for Alt+Win+F4 - since Alt+F4 closes the current application, Alt+Win+F4 closing the desktop kinda makes sense. More important, though, is there is an Alt key next to Fn, so I can hit Alt+Fn with my right hand and Win+F4 with my left.

Change Desktops via Trackpad
We really need a trackpad swipe to change desktops. Ctrl+Win+Arrow is great, but sometimes I'm already on the trackpad. I personally don't use the current 3-finger swipe, I find it jarring and kinda buggy. I'd love to replace it with switching desktops instead. If not, maybe 4-finger swipe? Just give us something :)

Switch Animation Needs a Little Love
Minor gripe, but the animation switching between desktops seems a little abrupt. Maybe slow it down a tad and give it a slight motion blur? I'm not sure. I just doesn't seem as smooth as it could be.

Allow Full Screen Apps to Open in New Desktop
This is mainly for desktop applications that have full-screen modes (not simply maximized windows), like IE/Firefox/Chrome, IntelliJ, Sublime Edit, etc, but could also be useful for Modern apps such as Video, Netflix, and Hulu. Basically, if an app starts up full-screen, have an option (opt-in maybe) so that it loads in a new desktop. From what I understand OSX does this, and it's crazy useful (especially for developers). Currently I've been doing it manually - create a desktop and start IntelliJ, create another desktop and start Firefox, etc.

Anyway, love the feature. Anyone else have anything they'd like to add?
 

MrChris2000

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Dec 15, 2014
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I'm with you, Virtual Desktops are a really good addition to the OS; where I struggle though is the lack of persistence and visibility.

Visibility:
Currently virtual desktops are hidden behind the icon by the start button in a collapsed state. You can't see how many desktops you have or what is on each until you select that icon.
Once you have selected the icon and created a new desktop how do you assign applications to the new desktop? Its not drag and drop, no, it's a right click 'move to' which feels really clunky.

I'd like to see a 'mini window' option to show all the created virtual desktops, a preview of whats running in them and the ability to drag & drop between them. Akin to this (sadly discontinued) solution : enable Virtual Desktop 3.0.1 (you'll have to search I can't post links yet).

Persistence:
Virtual desktops go away on shutdown/reboot. Apps always start in the 'home' desktop.

What I'd like to see is the ability to specify a preset number of virtual desktops that are created on login.
From there I should be able to assign applications to start in a given virtual desktop.
In that past I've configured an 'Email' desktop, 'Cmd' desktop, 'Browser' desktop, FTP desktop, Explorer Desktop, etc.
Combine that with the mini window view suggested above and flying between desktop contexts becomes a breeze.

Overall I think it's a nice first step, but it's also an area I really hope is getting some love for the consumer preview release.
 

AstroPop

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Didn't think I'd use virtual desktops at first, but turns out it's now one of my top favorite features. Super useful for separating work and play and also for switching between two maximised apps because of the lovely slide animation :) Couldn't imagine going back to 8.1 because of this feature alone :)

Switch Animation Needs a Little Love
Minor gripe, but the animation switching between desktops seems a little abrupt. Maybe slow it down a tad and give it a slight motion blur? I'm not sure. I just doesn't seem as smooth as it could be.

I don't have any issues with the slide animation, it's perfect, smooth and fast like it should be IMO. Too slow and the OS starts to feel slow and sticky for no reason.
 

mijacs

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Dec 6, 2012
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Unfortunately I do not have a box to play with Windows 10. Do the Virtual Desktops allow to have certain applications that appear on all of them? For example, at work I have my email and web browser on all Virtual Desktops.
 

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